
Pass GV /ZO/ 
Rnf>k?0 ^y 



Popular Pastimes 



S'OB 



Field and Fireside, 



OB 



Amusemeiits for Young and Old. 



CAKEFULLT COJIPILED BT 

AUNT CAKEIE. 



» 4 I M 



'^'^o^iVashJi^s!^''^ 



^ SPRINGFIELD, MASS.: 
PUBLISHED BY MILTON BEADLEY A CO. 

1867. 



(k^" /20) 



Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1866, by 

MILTON BRADLEY & COMPANY, 

In the Clerk's Office of the District Court of the District of Mas- 
sachusetts. 



SAMUEL BOWLES ,AND 'COafPANYi 
Printers, Binders and Electrotyp3rs., 



AUNT CARRIE 



DEDICATES 



TO HER YOUNG FEIENDS 



^KIS f)OOK, 



IN THE HOPE THAT IT WILL ADD 
TO THEIR 

HOME PLEASURES. 



Preface. 




Yl^ WOULD like to make a few suggestions on 
" home influence," before I commence a list of 
amusements. They may be superfluous ; if so, 
I trust you -wUl pardon me. 

All parents, I am sure, must feel a deep inter- 
est in this subject, and I think will agree with 
me that judicious praise is quite as necessary 
in the training of a child as wholesome cor- 
rection. But if we wish our children to have 
a genuine love for us, and our homes, we must sympathize 
with them, and never forget we were once children, and loved 
chUdish things. 

Mothers have by nature far more sympathy and patience 
than most fathers. Some fathers are apt to think that home 
is only a place in which to eat, sleep, and be generally com- 
fortable; but as to giving any of their valuable time to 
entertaining their own children, why, the very idea is prepos- 
terous ! A wife is presuming to expect it ! Let me appeal 
to your selfish instiucts. You all wish to be loved and 



4 



VI PREFACE. 

revered, and are gratified if your cMldren are attentive to 
your comforts. Can you expect such manifestations, unless 
you set them an example, and prove by a real interest in 
their pleasures, that you sincerely love them ? Is it not bet- 
ter to devote at least an hour a day to your children, than to 
spend every moment in earning money for them, which, 
unless you rightly direct and train them, will surely prove 
their ruin ? 

There is no time in the day when home is so pleasant as at 
twilight, or in the early evening hour. Then all are gathered 
(or should be) together at home. In the country it is after 
tea ; in cities, particularly New York, it is after dinner. 
Then, I entreat you, fathers and mothers, assemble your 
children around you, devote your time for an hour or two in 
being children with them, join heartily in all their plays ; let 
them tell what has interested them during the day ; draw 
them out, and encourage them to open their little hearts 
freely and confide in you. 

Some think it childish and silly to play games. Yet if we 
would only keep our hearts young and happy, we should 
retain our youth longer, and love our friends and homes bet- 
ter. A good hearty laugh is wholesome. 

Mothers, 1 intreat you to train your own children. Do 
not leave them to servants. Hire them to relieve you of the 
care of your house, and to do your sewing ; but give your 
time to your children. " Verily, you will have your reward." 

I have compiled this book to assist you in your home amuse- 
ments. May it carry to your home circle that spirit of 
enjoyment which is natural to the young heart, and which 
should not be absent from the more mature. 



Contents. 



Pkeface, 5 

CROQUET. 

Materials used in the Game — ^Preparation of the Ground — 
Choice of Sides — General Principles of the Game — Arrange- 
ment of the Bridges — ^Diagrams — Eules of the Game — Strik- 
ing the Ball — Running a Bridge — Striking Out — The Eoyer 
— Eoquet — Croquet and Eoquet-Croquet — The Plinch — Sug- 
gestions to Beginners — Hints to Players — Carpet Croquet — 
The Board Game — Vocabulary of Terms, . . . .13 



BASE BALL. 

Origin of the Game — Eules adopted by "the National Associa- 
tion of Base Ball Players" — Selection and Measuring of 
Ground — Diagram — ^Pitcher's Point and Home Base — Use 

I of the Bat — Description of the Game — The Catcher — The 
Pitcher — The Short Stop — ^First Base — Second Base — Third 
Base— Left Field— Center Field— Eight Field— The Umpire 
—The Scorer, . . . 42 

AECHERT. 

Position of the Targets — Attitude in Shooting — Directions — 
Bows — Targets, 64 



VIU CONTENTS. 



GARDENING AND FLOWERS. 

PAGE. 

Benefit of Children's Gardens — The Woods — How to Plant 
Seeds — ^Ferneries — Ivies — ^Pressed Flowers — How to Plant 
and Grow Strawberries — Grapes — Designs for Flowers — To 
Produce various Flowers from one stem — To Preserve Koses 
till Winter, 67 

ILLUMINATION. 

Materials — ^Lists of Selected Colors — ^Brushes — Coloring — Ta- 
ble of Colors and Mixed Tints — ^Design, . . . . 8§ 



-f 



HOUSE AND HOME ARTS. 

Decalcomanie, 98 

Engraved Boxes, 101 

Coral Flowers and Baskets, 102 

Imitation of Inlaid Ivory, . . . . . . . 103 

Alum Baskets, 103 

Painting on Glass, . 104 

Painting on Velvet, 106 

Casting in Plaster, Sulphur, &c., 109 

Leather Work, Ill 

Cigar Boxes made Useful, 116 

Potichimanie, 118 

Ornaments in Rice Shell Work, 120 

Allspice Baskets, 124 

Rice or Shell Baskets, 125 

Wafer Baskets, . . . 125 

Impressions of Butterflies, 4^ 126 

How to take Impressions of Leaves, 126 

Paper Landscapes, 127 

NATURAL MAGIC. 

The JEolian Harp, 128 

The Magic of Acoustics, . 129 

How Sound travels through a Solid, 129 

Singular Example of Superstition, . . . . . 130 

Theory of the Voice, 131 

The visibly growing Acorn, 132 



CONTENTS. IX 



DANCING. 

PAGE. 

Pop goes the Weasel, 134 

Lancers, 134 

Le Prince Imperial Quadrille, . . . ... 137 

Common Cotillion, . 139 

Basket Dance, 140 

White Cockade, 141 

The Waltz and Polka Quadrille, .141 

Sir Eoger De Coverly or Virginia Reel, .... 141 

Nine-Pin Dance, 142 

Caledonian Quadrilles, 142 

DEAMATIC AMUSEMENTS. 

General Directions for Private Theatricals, .... 144 

Dramatic Reading Clubs, 147 

Charades and how to Act them — Examples, .... 149 

Tableaux Vivants, 154 

THE SIBYL. 

Sibylline Leaves— The Fiat of Fate— Flower Fate— Fate Box, 156 

THE PUZZLER. 

Conundrums, 160 

Enigmas, Charades and Riddles, 162 

An Enigmatical Dinner, 168 

Paradoxes and Puzzles, 170 

Arithmetical Problems, . . . . . . . . 173 

Answers to Conundrums, 175 

Answers to Enigmas and Charades, 176 

Answers to Paradoxes and Puzzles, 178 

Answers to Arithmetical Problems, 180 

GAMES FOR OLD AND YOUNG. 

Blind Man's Buff, 182 

Shadow Buff, * . . 183 

Blind Man's Wand, 183 

Chinese Shadows, 184 

The Comical Concert, . . . . . . . . 184 

— ^ 1* 



X CONTENTS. 

PAGE. 

The Menagerie, 186 

Quaker Meeting, 186 

Resemblances, . , 187 

Put in a Word, .188 

Proverbs, ... 188 

Game of Characters, 189 

Lawyer, 190 

Consequences, ' 190 

Fox and Geese,' 191 

Stage-Coach, . ' 192 

Hunt the Fox, 193 

Sneezing, . . . 193 

The Pveady Writer, > 19B 

Rhyming Words in Pantomime, 194 

Exhibition of. the Modern Giant, 196 

The Shadow at Command, 197 

The Wizard of the East, 198 

How to Bring a Person down upon a Feather, . . . 199 

The Apparent Impossibility, 200 

The Turned Head, 200 

Statuary, 201 

" He can do little who can't do this," ..... 201 

" Brother, I'm Bobbed," 202 

" How do You Like it ? When do You Like it ? And Where 

will You Put iti 202 

The Bird Catcher, 203 

Questions and Answers, 206 

The Magic Wand, . . . 206 

The Rhyming Game, 207 

The Game of Twenty Questions, . . . ■ . . . 208 

Game of Photograph, . . 210 

York and Lancaster, or the War of the Roses, . . . 212 

Post-Office, 214 

Hand-writing on the Wall, 214 

Graces, 215 

Family Newspaper, 216 

GAMES OF MEMORY. 

Grand Panjandrum, 218 

De Jardin de ma tante, 219 



CONTENTS. 



PARLOR GAMES. 

PAGE. 

Squalls, 222 

Parlor, or Carpet Bowls, 226 

The Union Game, or Red, White and Blue, . . , .227 

Zoetrope, or Wheel of Life, .229 

Grecian Games, . . ' 230 

Jack-straws, 231 

GAMES FOR LITTLE CHILDREN. 

Dance, Thumbkin, Dance ! . • 233 

Uncle John, 234 

Mother Goose, 234 

Clap out and Clap in, 235 

Fingers and Thumbs, 236 

" You are nothing but a Goose," 237 

Buzz, 238 

The Puzzle Wall, 239 

Dolls, 240 

Boys, 241 

Play-Ground Rhymes, 243 

Forfeits, 244 



Croquet. 




'ROQUET has been for several years one 
. of the most popular pastimes in England, 
and is now very justly receiving a large 
and rapidly increasing share of attention 
in this country. It is unmistakably a game 
of science, in which the brain, as well as 
the muscles and nerves, has an essential 
part to perform, — thus very closely resem- 
bling billiards, to which game it is in some 
respects superior, in that it is a more social game, and gives 
an opportunity for healthful open air exercise. 

Unlike most of out-of-door sports, it does not require the 
possession of great strength or powers of endurance, or severe 
muscular exertion on the part of the player. Excellence in 
it is almost equally attainable to the weakly and delicate as 
to the healthy and robust. Old and young meet on its arena 
on more nearly equal terms than in any other known game 
of skill. A "correct eye," steady hands and nerves, and 
good judgment, are the essential qualifications for a good 
player, and the possession of these advantages of course is 
not dependent upon the age, sex, or condition of the person. 



14 CEOQUET. 

And it may perhaps be considered as the chief excellence 
of this game that it gives this opportunity, which very few 
other games, combining scientific play and physical exercise, 
aiford, for persons of the opposite sexes and disparity of age 
to join in one common amusement. It should be a matter 
of congratulation to all to see the rapidly increasing popular- 
ity hi any healthful open air sport in this country. 

We predict for Croquet a success wider in this than it has 
reached in any other country. When we work or fight, we 
work and fight harder than any other people, and we should 
be as enthusiastic in our play. 

In preparing this chapter on Croquet we have endeavored 
to explain the general principles of the game, and to present 
a code of rules, simple, concise, and shorn as far as possible 
of technicalities of expression, but comprehensive enough to 
include all points necessary to a thorough understanding of 
the game. 

In Rules of the Game, explanatory remarks are enclosed in 
brackets. 



MATEEIALS OF THE GAME. 

A COMPLETE set of Croquet consists of eight halls, eight 
mallets, ten iron hridges, and two posts. 

The balls should be about ten inches m circumference, per- 
fectly spherical, and should weigh about eight ounces. They 
should be designated by different colors, either by painting 
the entire surface of the ball, or by a stripe of the color 
merely. But the first method is much to be preferred, as. a 
ball needs all the protection it can have to preserve it from 



MATERIALS OP THE GAME. 15 

the effects of tlie weather, and for this purpose nothing is 
better than good oil paint and varnish. There is a universal 
predisposition towards large balls by all novices in the game ; 
but experience will invariably give the preference to a ball 
not more than ten inches in circumference, if of rock maple 
or birch, and if of boxwood, not more than nine and one-half 
inches. 

The mallet head should be about 2f inches in diameter, and 
4i inches long, shaped somewhat like a dice-box; and the 
handle 33 inches long, if of an inch in diameter in 
^^^B the largest part, and I- of an inch in the smallest. 
fll It is customary to paint some portion of the mallets to 
correspond to the colors on the balls. This is a very 
great advantage in distinguishing the different players 
and assisting the memory to connect them with their 
respective balls, and we much prefer it ; but some play- 
ers prefer to leave the mallets undistinguished, and 
to allow each player to select his own, — choosing such 
weight, size and length as he may desire — and perhaps 
there is no objection to this. A feeble or delicate per- 
son may not be able to play as well with a mallet of the 
standard size as his opponent, and thus will be upon 
an unequal footing with him at the outset ; while, if 
each selects such as is suitable to his or her condition, 
all will be satisfactorily equipped, and, of course, upon 
equal terms, as far as the implements are concerned. 
juAi^i^ji . p^^ \,gj^ls and mallet heads good rock maple is the 
most desirable of all our native woods, and hickory is the best 
for mallet handles. Box-wood is very good for mallet heads, 
but is too heavy for balls. Box-wood mallet heads and good 
rock maple balls, well painted, make an elegant and superior set, 
and are preferable to a complete box-wood set, while rosewood 
and lignum-vitse balls are little better than iron, and entirely 
unfit to use. 




16 CEOQUET. 

The bridges should be made of iron wire about -j^g of an 

inch in diameter, in form like an ox-bow. The width of the 

bridge should be equal to the circutnfer- 

enee of the ball, and the hight such that 

when firmly set it will stand out of the 

ground a distance equal to its width. 

^ They should be uniform in color. White 

g B is best, as it is more easily seen, and con- 

|H| trasts more pleasingly with the green of 

Sl^s the turf. Some have adopted the practice 

' of painting them of different colors, but 

THE BRIDGE. ^^^ reasou assigned seems not to be a good 

one, and experience almost unanimously pronounces in favor 

of a uniform light color. 

One manufacturer has adopted and patented the happy 
idea of galvanizing or plating the iron bridges with zinc, 
which gives them a permanent light color, and at the same 
time perfectly preserves them from rust. 

Some writers assert that withs or firkin hoops answer very 
well for bridges. They may answer as a very poor substitute, 
but a good croquet player would no sooner play with such 
materials than a billiard player with a slack rope for a cushion 
or an umbrella for a cue. In many of the scientific "shots" 
of the game, the player calculates upon the rigidity of the 
bridges, and an iron bridge, when set in sandy soil, is at best 
none too rigid ; and with loose or springy bridges the game 
loses much of its attraction to a good player. 

The posts should be about 28 inches long, 1^ inches in di- 
ameter in the largest part, and pointed so as to be driven into 
the ground. They should have rings painted on them corres- 
ponding to the colors of the balls, and of such width that the 
bottom ring will be as high from the ground as the top of the 
bridges. Thus, supposing the post to be 28 inches long, com- 
mencing at the top, make each ring 1-J- inches wide. This 



THE GBOUND. 17 

will occupy 10 inches, and tence allow the posts to be driven 
into the ground 8 inches, and still have the lowest 
color so high from the turf that it can be easily 
seen from any portion of the ground. The order 
of the colors on the post is not essential so long 
as the light and dark colors alternate ; but the 
two uppermost colors belong to the chiefs of the 
two sides, and therefore most properly should be 
black and white, as those are the best representa- 
tives of dark and light colors. The exact arrange- 
sment of the succeeding colors is immaterial, but 
THE POST, the following is very good, commencing at the top : 




1. Black. 

2. White. 

3. Blue. 

4. YeUow. 



5. Brown. 

6. Bed. 

7. Green. 

8. Pink. 



As the^order of the colors on the posts governs that of the 
play, and since those on each side play alternately, it follows 
that in a game of eight the dark balls, black, blue, brown, 
and green, are matched against the light ones, white, yellow, 
red and pink. 

Many devices have been suggested for marking the bridges 
when run, such as clips or markers, painting the bridges dif- 
ferent colors, &c., &c., but they have all proved to be useless, 
as a player who is interested in the game will remember his 
own position more easily than he will remember to change the 
marker. 



THE GROUND. 

In contemplating the preparation of a Croquet ground, the 
first question that occurs is, how much and what kind of 
ground is necessary. The size of the ground, as well as the 



18 CEOQUET. 

distance between the bridges, is governed very mucli by the 
taste and accommodation of the owner. 

A model Croquet ground has been defined as an elliptical 
field one hundred feet long and sixty feet wide, with the 
bridges from nine to twelve feet apart ; but persons possessed 
of only a limited plot of ground need not conclude that the 
above dimensions are absolutely necessary, for a very inter- 
esting game may be played on groimd not more than sixty 
feet long and thirty feet wide, with the bridges from six to 
eight feet apart. The bounds may be imaginary lines defined 
by corner bounds, or they may be walks or other natural 
bounds suggested by the nature of the ground ; or if a plot 
is prepared expressly for the pui-pose, a ditch about eight 
inches wide, and six inches deep, well turfed is probably the 
best bound that can be made. 

A smooth, closely cut turf is always to be chosen, and is 
improved by a thorough rolling with a very heavy roller, or, 
if that is not available, a few hours' work with a heavy mall 
will bring the ground into very good condition. Next to 
having the turf smooth, the most important point is to have 
the ground level ; and yet a very good game can be played 
on an uneven or sloping ground, if in making the strokes and 
determining the necessary force and direction, a proper calcu- 
lation is made with reference to the condition of the surface 
over which the ball is to pass. It in fact shows more skill to 
play a good game upon a poor ground than upon a perfect 
one. 



GENERAL PRINCIPLES OF THE GAME. 

Two players being designated captains or chiefs, one for 
each side, sides are chosen in the usual manner. The privi- 
lege of first choice of players is very conveniently decided be- 



GENERAL PRINCIPLES OP THE GAME. 



19 



tween the cHefs by each placing his ball under the first bridge 
and striking for the starting post ; the one who thus drives his 
ball nearest the post gaining the first choice. 

The chief who has the first choice takes the ball correspond- 
ing in color with the top of the post, and the other chief the 
next ball according to the order of the colors on the posts, 
while the remaining balls are given to the other players in the 
order in which they are chosen. (See remark under Rule II.) 




Eight persons can play, but a game of four or six is the 
most interesting. If four or more play, each player uses but 
one ball; but if only two play, the game is improved by 
each player taking two balls and playing them alternately as 
usual. If there be an odd number of players — either three, 
five or seven — the players play against each other individu- 
ally, or one person takes two balls and plays each in its 
proper turn. 

Assuming that each player has a ball and a mallet, that the 



20 CROQUET. 

bridges are arranged In citlier of the tliree positions given in 
diagrams Nos. 1, 2 and 3, we now come to the mode of play- 
ing the game. The object is to drive the baEs through all 
the bridges, in the direction indicated by the dotted lines on 
the diagrams, and to strike the two posts. The side, all of 
whose members succeed in performing this feat first, wins the 
game. Now although this is the chief object of the game, 
yet the act from which it derives its title, to wit : " Croquet," 
is of much greater importance than would at first be imag- 
ined. If a player hit with his ball any of the others, he is 
allowed to place his own against the ball he has struck, and 
setting his foot upon his own ball, he hits it with the mallet, 
and the force of the blow drives off" the other ball while the 
playing ball remains stationary. As a player is allowed to 
Croquet either friend or foe, it is evident that he can do a 
great deal of damage or service, according to his inclina- 
tion, since he is at liberty to drive the ball in any direction he 
pleases. 

The Roquet-Croquet is an operation still more interesting 
than the Croquet as it is susceptible of much greater skill in 
its execution. This is accomplished the same as the Croquet, 
except that instead of holding one ball firmly by placing the 
foot upon it, both balls are left free to be driven together by 
the blow of the mallet. By practice and a skillful placing 
of the balls a stroke may be made that will cause the balls 
to diverge in any forward directions the player may desire. 

In commencing a game, the first chief places his ball one- 
third the distance from the starting post to the first bridge, 
and endeavors, by striking it with the end of his mallet's 
head, to drive it through the first bridge. If he Succeeds, he 
continues his turn and attempts to send the ball through the 
second bridge, and then through the third, for driving the 
ball through a bridge, or hitting another ball, generally im- 
parts the privilege of an additional stroke. 



EOQUET-CROQUET. 21 

When one ball driven by a blow of tbe mallet hits another, 
it is said to make Roquet on that ball. 

When the first player, who should be black, has missed, 
white goes on, and the other players follow in the order of the 
colors on the posts, and very soon comes the opportunity to 
use the great advantages of the Croquet and Roquet-Croquet. 
Often when a player has his baU in a good position in front 
of a bridge, another wUl hit it, and then by Croquet or Ro- 
quet-Croquet drive it to the other end of the ground, com- 
pelling it perhaps to take two or three turns before it can re- 
gain its former position. Occasionally two or three balls lie 
close together, and one is struck by a ball which was some 
distance off. The player is now allowed to place his ball by 
the side of the one it has struck, thus gaining position near 
the others, so that after croqueting it he is almost sure of hit- 
ting the others. 

As an example of the use of the Roquet- Croquet, we will 
take diagram No. 1, and suppose that white plays with suc- 
cess through the first two bridges, and that black lies some- 
where beyond the second bridge. Now if there was no other 
ball near, it would be impossible for white to continue to play 
and pass through the third bridge, because it will require one 
stroke to get in position for that bridge : but if white can 
Roquet black, then she can Roquet- Croquet with black up in 
front of the third bridge, and then, as the Roquet gives an- 
other stroke, play through the third bridge and perhaps 
through the fourth and fifth. If below the fifth she should 
find, say the brown ball, to Roquet- Croquet with, it would be 
possible to get in front of No. 6, and then down to the turn- 
ing post and hitting that return up through No. 6. Here the 
brown ball may again be roqueted, and then roquet-croqueted, 
into position for No. 8, and so on. This of course could only 
happen if white was an extra player and the other balls were 
ia very favorable positions, but it serves as an illustration of 



22 CKOQUET. 

the use of this very valuable stroke. The player who reaches 
the turning-post first, has great advantages for a time, for as 
soon as he touches it, he commences his return journey, and 
meeting the other players on their way to the farthest point 
of their jovirney, he is able to cro(][uet them and considerably 
impede their progress. 

When a player has passed through all the bridges, he be- 
comes what is called in the technical language of Croquet, a 
rover, and is privileged to rove about aU over the ground, 
croqueting his friends and foes. It is therefore obvious that 
a good player can prove, when thus situated, of immense 
advantage to his side, and should generally avoid hitting the 
starting post tUl all on his side have passed through the last 
bridge. The excitement towards the end of the game, often 
becomes intense, and each stroke is watched with the keenest 
interest, Gradually, one by one, the players hit the post, 
until perhaps only two remain, and now occurs an opportu- 
nity for skillful play. The object of both is first to hit the 
post, and failing in that, to keep as far off his adversary as 
he can. Each endeavors, at the same time drawing nearer to 
the great object in view, to keep the post between his and 
the other ball. At length one plays at the post, misses it, 
and sends his ball near his adversary, who first hits it, next 
croquets it away, and then strikes the post, and wins the 
victory. 



AKEANGEMENT OF THE BRIDGES. 

This arrangement of the bridges, which is the simplest of 
the three we have drawn, is the one which we recommend for 
all eight handed games, or for beginners. 



AEEANGEMENT OF BRIDGES — DIAGRAM. 23 



DIAGRAM No. 1. 



'WJJ^Vk^^^^ 



The figures marked on this diagram are intended merely to 
furnish a relative scale of distances. Thus with these distances 

the posts are 53 feet apart, 
which is perhaps more than is 
desirable, imless the ground 
is very perfect, or the play- 
ers experts. 

The course of the ball is 
indicated by the dotted lines, 
and the arrows show the di- 
rection in which the balls 
proceed on the round. It 
will be observed that bridge 
No. 3 is to the left of No. 2. 
As represented in this dia- 
gram, bridges 3 and 10 are 
set a little in advance of 2, 
and 6 a little in advance of 



7 



«rtx 



!< laH- 






-^rzr 



5 and 8. Some players pre- 
I fer that 10, 2 and 3 should 

be in a straight line, and the 
_fj^ same with 8, 6 and 5. We 
prefer to have 3 and 10 
enough in advance of 2 to 
make it just possible for an 
expert by a very superior 
stroke to run No. 2 and get 
position for No. 3 at one 
blow, and the same with 5, 

6 and 8. In short, we would 
have the an-angement such 
that it is not absolutely im- 

'possible for a player to make the grand round in one tour, 
without the aid of the roquet. This of course would very 







24 



CROQUET. 



rarely be aceomplislied, — ^never, except by extraordinarily 

skillful play, — ^yet it should 
be made possible, but very 
difficult. 



DIAGSAM No. 2. 



"V®?^\>5v^ 







M^^vn.m Mix* ^. 

In this the same number 
of bridges are used, as in 
the first diagram; but the 
bridges numbered respect- 
ively 4 and 9, instead of 
being placed parallel to the 
others, are now at right an- 
gles to them ; thus in play- 
ing from 3 to 4, the ball 
must keep to the left of 4, 
and then pass through it, 
from the outside of the game ; 
a much more difficult ar- 
rangement than the first, and 
somewhat more difficult than 
the third, although at first 
sight it may not appear so. 



ARRANGEMENT OF BRIDGES — DIAGRAM. 25 



DIAGEAM No. 



111 tMs, tlie third diagram, it will be seen tliat the two cen- 
ter side bridges are done away with, and that one is placed in 

the center of the ground in- 
stead; but although in the 
play wo now require one 
bridge less than in the former 
diagram, yet the player will 
have to pass through the 
same number of bridges as 
before, since he travels twice 
through the bridge in the 
center, once on his way to 
the turning post, and once 
on his return. This is the 
best arrangement of bridges 
for a four-handed game. 
As the player's knowledge 
of Croquet increases, many 
other positions will suggest 
themselves; but those we 
have presented are the sim- 
'{\ plest, and are the diagrams 
in general use at the present 
time. Some authors recom- 
mend the invariable use of 
diagram No. 1, as being suf- 
ficiently difficult, especially 
when bridges 10, 2 and 3 
are on a line. 




3 



J5>"' 



2 






ttrJj 






26 CROQUET. 

EULES OF THE GAME. 

StriMng: th^ Bait 

I. At the eommeneement of tlic game tlae ball slaould be 
placed on a line drawn from the starting post to the center of 
tlie first bridge, and at a distance from the starting post, equal 
to one-third the distance from the post to the bridge. 

[The rule usually given, i. e., to place thq ball a mallet's 
length from the post is very well for a large ground where the 
distance from post to bridge is nine or ten feet, but for a small 
ground it brings the ball too near the first bridge.] 

1 . In striking, the mallet should be used with one hand, and 
the striker should stand on one side of, and not behind the ball. 

2. The ball must he struck and not pushed — a push never 
being allowable under any circumstances ; and the blow must be 
given with \h&face — never with the side — of the mallet head. 

[A ball can never get into such a position on a croquet-, 
ground that it cannot be struck in some direction, and if it is 
in a bad position it is either the fault or the misfortime of the 
player owning the bail — which he is not to be allowed to rectify 
by a push, for that would sometimes be rewarding bad play.] 

3. Whenever the mallet hits the ball, if it moves it hov/- 
ever slightly, it must be considered a stroke. 

4. The player may if he wholly miss his ball, strike at it 
again. 

II. The gamiC is opened by the chief holding the ball cor- 
responding in color with the top of the post, and the players 
on the two sides foUov/ alternately according to the order of 
the colors on the posts. 

[The playing must necessarily be in the order of the colors 
on the post. But on some grounds the chief is allowed to as- 
sign the balls to the several players on his side according to 



RULES OF THE GAME. 27 

his own choice ; thus according to this rule the chief is not 
compelled to play the first ball. "VVe do not advise this prac- 
tice as there is generally some real or fancied difference in the 
mallets and hence a chief is hable to offend some one in the 
distribution of the materials. There are other objections 
wliich we have not space to discuss.] 

1. A player who misses the first bridge is called a booby, 
and at his next turn must strike his ball from the position to 
which it last rolled. 

[The above rule is based upon the almost universal practice 
of the best j)layers in this country. The following is gaining 
favor in England : "A ball missing the first bridge must be 
immediately picked up and played from the starting spot, at 
its next turn." Both practices have peculiar advantages over 
the other, which we have not space to discuss.] 

2. A roquet made vpon, or hy, a booby does not entitle 
the player to an extra stroke ; neither can a booby croquet or 
be croqueted. 

3. If any ball is played out of its proper turn and dis- 
covered before the play of another ball has commenced, the 
misplayed ball may be returned to its original place, or per- 
mitted to remain in that to which it has rolled, at the option 
of the chief of the opposing side. But if the mistake is 
discovered before the player has finished his turn and the mis- 
play be allowed, the misplayer shall be permitted to finish his 
turn. If the chief does not permit the misplay, the misplayed 
ball shall be returned to its original place, and any damages 
sustained or advantages gaiaed by either side shall be can- 
celed. K the misplay is not discovered before the play of 
another ball commences, or is allowed, the misplayer cannot 
use his next turn as he has anticipated it. 

4.. If a player use a wrong ball, all the balls moved by 
such play must be returned to their former position, and the 
misplayer lose his turn. 



28 CROQUET. 

III. A player continues to play so long as lie makes a 
point in the game. 

1. Making a point is running one or more bridges, strik- 
ing tlie turning-post in order, or performing tke roquet (ex- 
cept on a booby, or on a ball the second time in one tour 
without making an intervening step.') 

2. A player is allowed but one extra stroke, even tbougb 
lie make roquet and run one or more bridges at one stroke. 

3. If a player makes two steps at one stroke, be may 
take position one mallet's length or less, in any direction from 
where the ball rested. 

4. If a player makes three steps at one stroke, he may 
take position as above up to two mallet lengths or less. 

IV. The bridges must be passed through in their regular 
order in the direction of the course. (This is called running 
a bridge.) 

1. A ball runs a bridge whon it passes through it in order 
and course, by a direct blow, by roquet, roquet-croquet, cro- 
quet or concussion. Hence, for a player to drive his ball 
through a bridge out of its regular order, or from the wrong 
side counts . no more than to pass over any other part of the 
field. 

2. A ball is not through its bridge when the handle of the 
mallet laid across the two piers of the bridge upon the side 
from whence the ball came, touches the ball without moving 
the bridge. 

3. A ball passing under its bridge in the wrong direction 
is not in position to run the bridge until it has passed clear 
through according to the foregoing rule. 

4. A ball lying under a bridge is not in position for that 



EULES OF THE GAME. 29 

bridge if it has loeen so placed by the hand for the purpose of 
croquet or roquet-croquet, no matter from what position it may 
have been taken. 

[If the ball was taken from the back of the bridge, it would 
not be in position, having come from the wrong side, as 
above. Now if it should be allowed that a ball may be taken 
from the front of the bridge and placed under the bridge 
without losing position, as would at first seem proper, then the 
question immediately arises as to a ball when taken from a 
position directly on a line with the two piers of the bridge, 
thus coming from neither front nor back. This question can 
rarely be settled without dispute, to avoid which we have 
considered the adoption of the above rule as most judicious.] 

V. Tolling the turning post is in all respects equivalent 
to running a bridge, but the post may be tolled from any 
quarter. 



VI. A ball, after it has run all the bridges, may hit the 
starting post either by a blow from its owner's mallet, by ro- 
quet, roquet-croquet, croquet or concussion, and is then a 
dead hall, and must be immediately removed from the field. 

1. A player who having run all the bridges strikes the 
startmg post, is out of the game, his turn is omitted, and the 
play goes on as before. If, instead of striking the post, he 
continues to play, he is called a rover. 

2. When all the balls on one side have made the grand 
round and hit the starting post, that side has won the game. 

[Some authors on Croquet require the ball to be placed on 
the spot or starting point before continuing play as a rover. 
But this rule seems to be cntu'ely arbitrary — uscIqss — and to 
have been adopted for no sufficient reason.] 



80 CSOQUET. 

Vn. If the roquet-croquet is allowed to all players alike, 
tlie rover is governed entirely by the same laws as other players. 

1. Therefore, a rover having completed the grand round, 
and having no other steps to make (except step]ying out, 
when of course his play ceases,) can only acquire the right 
to continuance of play by the roquet. He may (after roquet 
upon it) croquet or roquet-croquet each ball once only dining 
a tour. Koquet upon a ball the second time dui'ing a tour 
does not entitle him to a continuance of play. 



YHI. A ball roquets another when it comes in contact 
with it by a direct blow of the mallet, or rebounds upon it 
after the blow, from any fixed obstacle of the ground or from 
■another ball. 

1. A ball havmg roqueted another ball, except a booby, 
is at liberty to croquet or roquet-croquet it or proceed on its 
round ; providing that the playing ball has not already in that 
tour roqueted that same ball since making a step on the round. 

2. A ball may roquet another baU twice between two con- 
secutive steps, but the second roquet does not entitle the 
player to a continuance of play. 

3. Any player in his turn is at liberty at any time to 
make roquet on any ball on the ground. 

4. Roquet does not entitle a booby to a continuanee of play. 

5. Soquet on a booby does not entitle the playing ball to 
a continuance of play. 

6. A ball having made roquet and decline-d the croquet, 
may continue its play either from the position to which it has 
rolled after the roquet, or from the side of the roqueted ball. 

7. If a ball roquet another and thereby gain the privi- 



EULES OF THE GAME. SI 

logo of croquet, and afterwards, at the same blow, run a 
bridge ; it may croquet the roqueted ball, then proceed to ro- 
quet it again, then croquet again and proceed on its round ; 
or waiving either or both croquets, or the last roquet and cro- 
quet, may proceed on its round. 

[Thus supposing the playing ball roquets a ball that it has 
not roqueted since making a step, and afterwards at the same 
blow runs a bridge ; it of course has a right to croquet the 
roqueted ball ; then as that roquet was made before the play- 
ing ball run its bridge there is no reason why it cannot again 
roquet and croquet the same ball. But had the playing ball 
first run a bridge and afterwards at the same blow roqueted a 
ball then it can have but one croquet according to Rule IX.] 

8. The continuance of play is gained by virtue of the 
roquet, and not of the croquet. The croquet is merely a 
privilege consequent upon the roquet. Therefore to waive a 
croquet does not terminate the play. This principle once fised 
in the mind will avoid much confusion in understanding and 
interpreting the rules. 

[One author on Croquet, assumes to propound a set of rules 
on double points which are entirely new and at variance with 
all previously established principles of the game, inasmuch as 
they allow a player to waive any point made or privilege 
gained. It is an established fact in Croquet that a player 
may waive any privilege that he has acquii-ed — but it is also 
as well established that a step once made can not be taken 
back. The beauty of Croquet is in a great degree due to its 
simplicity, and the granting of the above right to players adds 
one-half to the difficulties of the game, without adding in the 
least to its interest. A game of Croquet in which all the 
players except the rover are denied the privilege of roquet- 
croquet, and in which the right to waive a step is introduced, 
becomes at once twice as intricate, requires double the rules 
to explain it, and loses one-half its interest.] 



32 CKOQUET. 

TIj^ ^rciqxict and Itcnixx^A-'^xixiixut 

IX. A player may croquet or roquet-eroquet any number 
of balls consecutively ; but lie can croquet or roquet-croquet 
only those balls on which he has made roquet, and roquet on 
the same ball the second time in one,tour without an interven- 
ing step does not entitle the player to a croquet. 

1. If a player in the act of croqueting does not separate 
the balls, he is at liberty to take the stroke over again. 

[Instead of the above the following rule is often given. A 
croquet is completed when the mallet makes a perceptible 
(that is an audible) blow against the croqueting ball, whether 
that to be croqueted move from its place or not. This rule 
gives rise to frequent disputes whether the blow was percepti- 
ble or not, and is not as generally acceptable as the one we 
have given.] 

2. If a player in esecnting the roquet-croquet does not 
move the croqueted ball from its position, his tour of play 
ceases, unless by the same stroke he makes a point. 

[If it is in dispute whether or not the balL^has been moved as 
above required, the question shall be decided by the umpire if 
there be one, if not, by the chief of the side opposing the player. 
Some authors allow the roquet-eroquet to the rover only — 
but as it is one of the most scientific operations of the game, 
the majority of players are not willing to give it exclusively 
to the rover, especially when it is considered that a person 
who is able to become an early rover, will naturally have ad- 
vantage enough without any extra favors. Further, the argu- 
ment that the universal use of the roquet-croquet tends to 
perceptibly prolong the game has been proved by actual test 
to be without foundation.] 

3. If a ball is croqueted either thi'ough its own bridge or 
upon the turning or starting post when in order, a point so 
made holds good. 



EULES OF THE GAME. 33 

4. In making rieocliet the player is at liberty to croquet 
either a part or all of the balls roqueted ; but the order of 
croquet must be that of the ricochet, — the player, however, 
has only one additional stroke, and not one for each ball he 
has roqueted. 

5. If a ball when croqueted or driven through its own 
bridge from the rear roll back through the bridge, it has not 
run that bridge. 

[This rule is based upon the principle that all questions as 
to position can only be satisfactorily determined when the ball 
is not in motion. In the case put it would frequently be im- 
possible to decide whether the ball when it began to roll back 
was in position or not.] 

X. The laws that govern Croquet all apply to Eoquet- 
Croquet, except as to points for which special rules are herein 
given. 



Thi3 flinclu 

XI. If a ball flinch in the execution of the croquet, it 
is considered as merely an accidental roquet-croquet, and sub- 
ject to the same laws. In this ease of course any point made 
or advantage gained by either ball holds good. 

[By adopting this rule all unpleasant difference of opinion 
as to the proper positions of the balls is avoided, and as the 
origin of the roquet-croqtiet was this very practice of placing 
the foot lightly upon the playing ball and then allowing both 
balls to be moved together — there seems to be no objection to 
the rule.] 

1. The above rule only applies in a game where the ro- 
quet-croquet is allowed to all players. 

2. In case the roquet-croquet is only allowed to the 
rover, the following rule applies : If the player's ball flinch 
in executing the croquet, he forfeits the remainder of his 



34 CROQUET. 

tonr, and no point made by a fllnclilng ball is valid, and the 
balls are considered as accidentally displaced and are replaced 
in accordance witli the rule applying to accidentally displaced 
balls. 

XII. A ball accidentally displaced must be returned, by 
the chief of the side opposed to the person displacing it, to 
the place where it was lying before the play proceeds. 

XIII. If a ball be hit off the ground it is to be placed 
at once, and before the play proceeds, twelve inches within 
the limit of the boundary and at a point nearest to where it 
stopped, which of course causes the ball to be brought in 
square with the boundary. 

XIV. If a ball in its progress over the ground, be inter- 
rupted by the person or mallet of an enemy the ball may be 
placed by the chief of the side owning the ball, in such po- 
sition as he may judge it would have rested had it not been 
interrupted in its progress. If interrupted by the person or 
mallet of a friend the ball may be placed by the chief of the 
opposing side in such position as he may judge it would have 
rested. 

A person not taking part in the game, sliould never he 
within the hounds of a croquet ground when a game is in 
progress — but should such person accidentally be in such a 
position and either displace a ball, or interrupt it in its prog- 
ress — such person shall be considered as an enemy to the 
owner of the ball — and the ball be replaced according to 
rules XII. and XIV. 



HOW TO. LEARN. 85 



SUGGESTIONS TO BEGINNERS. 

Keep your temper — and remember ivJien your turn comes. 

Make good use of the privilege of croquet and roquet-cro- 
quet, and not consider it the sole object of the game to run 
the bridges, — and yet it is not well to too much neglect the 
bridges, as they must all be run before you can become a 
rover. 

Practice theroquet-eroquet whenever an opportunity oifers, as 
it is susceptible of more scientific playing than any other stroke. 

Accustom yourself to be guided strictly according to estab- 
lished rules as far as you are informed on the subject. 

Do not attempt to use a kind of push and call it a stroke, 
although it may not be expressly forbidden in some manual 
of croquet. 

Avoid acquiring the habit of standing behind the ball and 
holding the mallet in a perpendicular position with both hands 
when making a stroke, even though you play with those who 
do not object to the practice, as it will not be allowed on any 
well-regulated croquet ground. In making a stroke grasp 
your mallet firmly; strike squarely — take care that your 
wrist does not turn or twist, (unless you wish to give a twist 
to your ball,) and after getting your aim look rather at your 
mark than at your ball when giving the blow. After calcu- 
lating distance, direction, &c., there is no more use in looking 
at your ball except tp be sure you can hit it, than in throwing 
a stone, to look at your hand, rather than the mark. 

If the enem.y have an expert rover it is generally advisable 
to use every efibrt to strike him out. 

As an offset to this method of play it is often advisable to 
neglect to make the last bridge till near the close of the game, 
as in this way you can venture as near the starting post as 
you please without the fear of being deaded. 



86 CEOQUET. 

It is often the case that you and an enemy may both be in 
position for the last briJge. In such a case as a general rule 
rocjuet him, then crocjuet or roquet-croquet through the bridge, 
roquet agahi and croquet him against the starting post, thus 
depriving the other side of a rover, and gaining the advantage 
of bringing two of your own side into consecutive play. 

Leave your own ball as near your friend and as far from an 
enemy as possible. 

Accustom yourself as much as possible to strike with one 
hand, as it is much more graceful, and many players allow no 
other blow. 

The ladies will v^ry much oblige all their associates in cro- 
quet by avoiding long dresses, which are continually dragging 
,the balls about over the ground greatly to the annoyance of 
the players and disturbance of the game. 

To the gentlemen we would say it is no proof of skill in 
executing the croquet, to swing your mallet with both hands, 
and give a blow hard enough to kill an ox. If you want to 
do that sort of thing — it would be more agTeeable to all con- 
cerned for you to go off alone som^ewhere and sj)lit wood. 
An easy skillful stroke will send a ball anywhere within the 
bounds, and a ball out of bounds may be brought in, so 
nothing is gained by "sledge hammering," except injuring 
the implements, irritating the jolayers and delaying the game. 

In executing the roquet-croquet the stroke may be varied 
so as to produce three very different results. Fnst, if it is 
desirable to have the secondary ball go much further than 
your own, strike a sharp, quick blow, proportioned in force to 
the distance you wish your own ball to go, cheeking the force 
the instant the mallet hits the ball. Secondly, if you wish to 
send both balls along together strike a more sweeping blow, 
(not a push) permitting the mallet to have its full swing. 
The difference in these two blows is much more easily discov- 
ered by the player than described with the pen. 



HINTS TO PLATERS. 37 

The tliird stroke may partake of the nature of either of the 
above, but differs in the fact that the blow of the mallet is not 
delivered in a line with the centers of the two balls, but par- 
tially to one side of the rear ball, thus producing the splitting 
stroke, i. e., sending the two balls in courses diverging from 
each other. This is much the most difficult stroke of the 
three 

In procuring a set of croquet materials be sure that you 
know what you want, or else buy a set manufactured by some 
recognized manufacturer. It may seem a very simple thing 
to have a set of mallets, &c., made from a description, but 
having tried the experiment we can testify that to procure suit- 
able lumber — well seasoned, have mallets well shaped, the 
handles serviceable and not bungling, the halls perfecfli/ round, 
the bridges well formed and proportioned — and the painting 
brilliant and properly arranged is a very difficult matter. An 
English author on this subject says, "It was our fortune (or 
"rather misfortune) when in the country last year to take 
"part in a game of Croquet played with home-made mate- 
" rials. We only hope that it will never be our lot to play 
" with such things again. The mallets were so large they had 
"to be used as one would a scythe in mowmg grass. The 
"heads, instead of tapering at the center, bore a great re- 
" semblance to an ale barrel on a small scale, and were so 
"large that if one attempted to croquet, one was sure to hit 
" one's own foot instead of the ball. These, by-the-by, were 
" any shape but round. They bobbed up and down when in 
"progress, and scarcely ever went in the direction which it 

"was intended for them to go Such was the unsat- 

"isfactory result of the combined labors of th§ local carpen- 
" ter and blacksmith. We therefore earnestly recommend 
" our readers to eschew the use of home-made sets of Cro- 
" quet altogether." 

We endorse the foregoing statement, adding that responsi- 



38 CEOQUET. 

ble manufacturers in various parts of the country are now far- 
nisliing excellent sets of implements at a cheaper rate than 
individuals can get up equally good sets for themselves. 
There is therefore no economy in using a home-made set. 

Parlor Croquet is a very good substitute for the Lawn 
game, and may be enjoyed in a winter day or evening very 
much as canned fruit or preserved flowers are enjoyed as ex- 
cellent and beautiful substitutes for the delicious fruits of au- 
tumn and fragrant flowers of summer. But as the canned 
fruit is insipid when used beside the fresh fruit of autumn, so 
will the parlor game seem when attempted in the season of 
the field sport. There are two kinds of Parlor Croq^uet — 
which may be termed Carpet Croquet, and Table or Board 
Croquet. . 

The Carpet Croquet is played exactly like the field game 
and with similar materials except that they are usually smaller, 
being reduced in size in the same proportion that the space 
available in a room is smaller than the Lawn Croquet ground. 
•The same relative proportion in the size of materials should 
be preserved as that given for the materials of the Lawn game 
— assuming as a standard — a baU from 2^ to 2^ inches in di- 
ameter. There are several ingenious devices for fastening the 
bridges to the floor or carpet. Each one of those which we 
have seen have some objections; but those which are fast- 
ened with tacks are the simplest and we consider them the 
best. 

The Board game is played on a board of any convenient 
size — say five feet long and three feet wide — covered with 
baize or flannel, and surrounded by a ledge or thin strip pro- 
jecting above the top suiface three-fourths of an inch. 

The bridges and posts are set in this board in the same 
manner that the larger bridges are set in the ground on the 
lawn. The balls should be about one inch in diameter and 
may be of glass — but box-wood or ivory arc bettor. 



VOCABULARY. 39 

The size of tlae mallets should be' in proportion to that of 
the balls — ^with handles about eight inches long. 

The method of play is the same as in Lawn Croquet, ex- 
cept the croquet is executed by placing the finger instead of 
the foot on the playing ball. The rules are the same, except 
that, first, a player driving his ball off the board terminates 
his tour of play by that stroke and the ball must be placed 
immediately on the starting spot ; second, making two or more 
steps at one stroke does not entitle the player to the privilege 
of taking position up to one or more mallet's length. 

The Board Croquet is the most popular for the reason that 
it does not injure the furniture in any room, while the Carpet 
Croquet, although more like the Lawn game, requires a large 
room — ^well cleca-ed — or there will soon be an action of Cro- 
quet vs. furniture. 



VOCABULARY. 



A BoOBT. — A ball that has attempted to run the first 
bridge and failed. 

Bridges or Arches. — The iron hoops or bows through 
which the balls pass. 

Bridged Ball. — A ball that has run the first bridge. 

Concussion. — The displacement of a ball by another driven 
against it by roquet, croquet, ricochet, or roquet-croquet, and 
not hit directly either by the mallet or by the playing ball. 

Croquet. — (Pronounced Crd-kay.) The title of the game. 

The Croquet. — Any ball having struck another, is taken 
up and placed in contact with the ball it has struck. The 
player sets his foot upon his own ball, pressing firmly so as to 
hold it in place, and with a blow of his mallet, delivered upon 
his own ball, drives the other ball in whatever direction he 
may desire.. (See cut, page 19.) 



40 CEOQUET. 

Dead Ball. — One that lias made the grand round and hit 
the starting post. 

Distanced. — A ball is distanced when at the termination 
of the game it has not tolled the turning post. 

Down. — The course from the tm-ning post to the starting 
post. 

A Flinch. — ^When in the croquet, the playing hall is driven 
from under the foot by the blow of the mallet, it is called a 
flinch. 

Front of a Bridge. — The side from which the ball must 
proceed in running it, and with the central bridges is not con- 
stant, but is decided in each case by the course of the ball 
under consideration. 

Grand Bound. — A ball has made the grand round when it 
has run all the bridges and tolled the turning post, and is then 
a rover. 

Playing Ball. — The ball struck with the mallet. 

Point. — A player makes a pouit. by running a bridge or 
tolling a post, or by roqueting a ball that he has not pre- 
viously roqueted during the tour — since making the step — or 
in other words, by roqueting a ball imder such circumstances 
as would entitle him to the j)rivilege of the croquet. 

Position. — A ball is in position when it lies in front of its 
proper bridge with a possibility of running it by a single blow 
of the mallet. 

Proper Bridge. — A bridge which it is a player's turn to 
run next in order is said to be that player's bridge or his 
proper bridge. 

Push. — A stroke in which the mallet remains in contact 
with the ball after the instant of contact. 

Pi,icocHET. — (Bick''-o-shay.) — A ball making Koquet on 
two or more balls by the same blow of the mallet. 

BoQUET. — (Ro^-kay.) A ball makes Eoquet on another 
ball when proceeding from a blow of the mallet it comes in 



VOCABULARY. 41 

contact witli it either directly or by rebounding from a fixed 
obstacle in the ground or from another ball. 

[Some writers define the Roquet as the contact of the play- 
ing ball "with another ball under such circumstances as to con- 
stitute a point. This is merely a matter of choice regarding 
the facility of defining the other operations of the game. We 
consider that our definition renders the whole matter much the 
most simple.] 

Roquet-Croquet. — The same as Croquet, except that the 
playing ball is not held under the foot, but both balls are free 
to move in accordance with the blow of the mallet. 

A Rover. — A ball that has run all the bridges and has 
not hit the starting post. 

Stauting Post. — The stake from which the play proceeds. 
See diagram. 

A Step. — ^Running a bridge, or tolling the turning post. 

Striking Out. — A ball strvick against the starting post 
after having run all the bridges in their proper order, is struck 
out, and is out of the game. 

The Turning Post. — The post opposite the starting post. 

Tolling the Turning Post. — Striking the turning post in 
its proper order. 

Under a Bridge. — A ball is under a bridge when if the 
mallet handle is placed across the piers of the bridge on each 
side it will touch the ball in both positions of the handle. 

Up, — The course from the starting post to the turning post. 





J^SiS^^Fr^ HE game of Base Ball is fast becoming with 
Americans wtat Cricket has already become 
. with tlie English, a national game. The sport 
I is both graceful and invigorating, and re- 
1-^ qnires when properly played the possession 
'Op both of muscularity of body and strength of 
nerve. The exercise attendant on this game 
develops all the physical powers and calls 
into action every muscle and sinew in the hu- 
There are few sights more exhilarating and cap- 
tivating than a well contested match game betv/een evenly 
matched clubs. Such a spectacle rarely fails to draw admir- 
ing throngs, and to be considered a first class player is a dis- 
tinction of which any American youth may feel proud. As 
our. readers will find this subject fully treated in professional 
works, we do not propose to enter into any lengthy descrip- 
tion of the origin or progress of the game of Base Ball. We 
shall therefore simply state that this game was derived from 
the old English game of Bounders, reduced to a system, and 
governed by rules and regulations adopted by " The National 
Association of Base Ball Players," held in New York, De- 



man frame. 



EULEg OF THE GAME. 



43 



comber 13,' 1865. Those regulations for the convenience of 
our readers we here insert. 




;»^-iS;3'{^i.<*#-'i-*i^a-s>4^ 



EULES OF THE GAME. 

Section 1. The "ball must weigh not less than five and 
one-half, nor more than five and three-fourths ounces avou'du- 
pois. It must measure not less than nine and one-half, nor 
more than nine and three-fourths inches in circumference. It 
must be composed of India rubber and yarn, and covered with 
leather, and, in all match games, shall be furnished by the 
challenging club, and become the property of the winning 
club as a trophy of victory. 

Sec. 2. The bat must be round, and must not exceed two 
and a half inches in diameter in the thickest part. It must 
be made of wood, and may be of any length to suit the striker. 

Sec. 3. The bases must be four in number, placed at 
equal distances from each other, and securely fastened upon 
each corner of a square, whose sides are respectively thirty 
yards. They must be so constructed as to be distinctly seen 
by the timpire, and must cover a space equal to one square 
foot of surface. The first, second, and thu'd bases shall be 
canvas bags, painted white, and filled with some soft material ; 
the home base and pitcher's point to be each marked by a flat 
circular iron plate, painted or enameled white. 



44 BASE BALL. 

Sec. 4. Tlie base from whicli tlie ball is struck sball be 
designated tbe home base, and must be directly opposite to tbe 
second base ; tlie first base must always be"that upon the right- 
band, and the third base that upon the left-hand side of the 
striker, when occupying his position at the home base. And in 
all match games, a line connecting the home and first base and 
the home and third base, shall be marked by the vise of chalk, or 
other suitable material, so as to be distuietly seen by the umpu'e. 

Many of our clubs have an iron qiioit for the home base, 
that is in' direct yiolation of the rule which states that the 
home base must be marked by " vt^Jlat circular iron plate." 
Those we allude to rise in the center, and the consequence is, 
when a ball touches the base, it flies off at a tangent, instead 
of rebounding as if it had touched the ground, as it would do 
were it flat, as the rule prescribes. 

Sec. 5. The pitcher's position shall be designated by two 
lines, four yards in length, drawn at right angles to a line 
from home to second base, having their centers upon that line 
at two fixed iron plates, placed at points 15 and 16 1-3 yards 
distant from the home base. The pitcher must stand within 
the lines, and must deliver the ball as near as possible over 
the center of the home base, and for the striker. 

[It will be seen that the rule requires the ball to be pitched 
as near as possible over the home base, and for the striker ; 
the pitcher, therefore, has no right to pitch the ball to the 
catcher ■especially, as is often done when a player is on the 
first base, and umpires should see that the mle is enforced. 

This important change was made by the Convention of 
1863. The object being to do away with the unfair style of 
pitching that was in vogue during 1861, '62, and '68, dixring 
which period those pitchers who failed in^ehieving the success 
attained by the lamented Creighton, offset their want of skill 
by trying to intimidate the batsmen hj pitching the ball at 
them instead of for them as the rules require.] 



RULES OF THE GAMEo 45 

Sec. 6. Should the pitcher repeatedly fail to deliver to 
the striker fair balls for the apparent pm-pose of delaying the 
game, or for any cause, the mnpne, after warning him, shall 
call one hall, and if the pitcher persists in such action, two 
and three balls ; when three balls shall have been called, the 
striker shall take the first base ; and should any base be occu- 
pied at that time, each player occupying it or them shall take 
one base without being put out. 

[lu warnuig the pitcher before calling balls on him, all that 
is necessary is to call "ball to the bat; " and if two balls are 
pitched unfairly after such warning, "one ball" should be 
called, and if one unfair ball be delivered after that call, then 
"two" and " three" balls should be promptly called. A 
pitcher "repeatedly" fails if he fails twice in succession; 
and he " persists " in his unfair delivery if he pitch one ball 
after the first penalty has been imposed. In the first innings 
of a game, a little more latitude is allowable, but afterwards 
the rule shoiild be strictly enforced to the very letter of the 
law.] 

Sec. 7. The ball must be pitched, not jerked or thrown 
to the bat ; and whenever the pitcher moves with the ap- 
parent purpose or pretension to deliver the ball, he shall so 
deliver it, and must have neither foot in advance of the front 
Ime or oif the ground at the time of delivering the ball ; and 
if he fails in either of these particulars, then it shall be de- 
clared a baulk. 

[The pitcher makes a baulk when he either jerks a ball to 
the bat, has either foot in advance of the line of his position, 
or off the ground at the time of delivering the ball, or moves 
with the apparent purpose of pitching, without delivering the 
ball. The sentence "time of delivering the ball" has been 
interpreted by the Committee on Rules and Regulations of the 
National Association to mean, the period when the last move- 
ment of the arm is made in delivering the ball ; and conse- 



43. BASE BALL. 

quently if either foot of the pitcher be off the ground when 
this movement is made — ^it being nearly simultaneous with the 
ball's leaving the hand of the pitcher — ^umpkes must declare 
a baulk without being appealed to.] 

Sec. 8. When a baulk is made by the pitcher, every 
player running the bases is entitled to one base, without being 
put out. 

[The striker cannot take a base, on a baulk, as he is not 
considered a " player running the bases " until he has made 
the first base and ceased to be a striker.] 

Sec. 0. If a ball, from a stroke of the bat, first touches 
the groicnd, the person of a 'player, or any other object, behind 
the range of home and the first base, or home and the third 
base, it shall be termed foul, and must be so declared by the 
umpire, unasked. If the ball first touches the ground, either 
upon, or in front of the range of those bases, it shall be con- 
sidered fair. 

[Nothing is mentioned in Section 9 in reference to any ball 
that is caught, either on the fly or first bound, after touch- 
ing the side of a building, a fence, or a tree. In such cases a 
special rule is requisite before beginning a match.] 

Sec. 10. A player making the home base, shall be entitled 
to score one run. 

Sec. 11. If three balls arc struck at, and missed, and the 
last one is not caught, either flying or upon the first bound, it 
shall be considered fair, and the striker must attempt to make 
his run. 

Sec 12. The striker is out if afoul ball is caught, either 
before touching the ground, or upon the first boimd. 

Sec. 13. Or, if three balls are struck at and missed, and 
the last is caught, either before touching the ground, or upon 
the first bound. 

[The bound-catch, in this instance — ^thc ball striking the 
ground back of the home base — is considered in the light of 



RULES OF THE GAME. 47 

a foul ball, as far as the fly-game is concerned, and conse- 
quently when the ball is caught on the bound, on the third 
strUve, the player must be given out, the same as he was last 
year under the bound rule.] 

Sec. 14. Or, if a fair ball is struck, and the ball is caught 
without having touched the ground. 

Sec. 15. Or, if a fair ball is. struck, ^nd the ball is held 
by an adversary on first base, before the striker touches that 
base. 

Sec. 16. Any player running the bases is out, if at any 
time he is touched by the ball while in play in the hands of 
an adversary, without some part of his person being on the 
base. 

[All that is requisite for a player to " hold his base," accord- 
ing to the meaning of the rule, is, for him to touch the base 
bag, no matter whether the bag is in its position or not.] 

Sec. 17. No ace or base can be made upon a foul ball; 
such a ball shall be considered dead, and not in play until it 
shall first have been settled in the hands of the pitcher. In 
such cases players running bases shall return to them, and 
may be put out in so returning in the same manner as the 
striker when running to the first base. 

Sec. 18. No ace nor base can be made when a fair ball 
has been caught without having touched the ground ; such a 
ball shall be considered alive and in play. In such case play- 
ers running bases shall return to them, and may be put out in 
so returning, in the same manner as the strUcer when running 
to first base ; but players, when balls are so caught, may run 
their bases immediately after the ball has been settled in the 
hands of the player catching it. 

Pt will be seen by the above two Sections that a player 
running a base on a foul ball must return to the base he has 
left and remain on it until the ball has been fairly settled in 
the haads of the pitcher. But in case of fly-catches, a player 



45 BASE BALL. 

running a base isonly reqxiii-ed to retitrn and toncli tlielbase, after 
wlilch. he can leave it at once and try and make tlie next base. 
He must, however, toucli the base after the ball has been caught. ] 

Sec. 19. The striker must stand on a line drawn through 
the center of the home base, not exceeding in length three feet 
from either side thereof, and parallel with the line occupied 
by the pitcher. ' He shall be considered the striker until he 
has made the first base. Players must strike in regular rota- 
tion, and, after the first innings is played, the turn commences 
with the player who stands on the list next to the one who 
lost the third hand. 

[This rule should be strictly enforced by the'timpircj ,A 
striker has no right to avail himself of the advantage derived 
from standing back of the line of liis position, thereby in- 
creasing the distance between himself and the pitcher, and ob- 
taining a better opportunity of judging the ball. ' Besides 
which, a poorly hit ball Avhich would strike the ground in front 
of the home base — if the batsman stood on the line of his 
base — and lead to his being put out, is changed to a foul ball 
by his standing back of his base, and he thereby escapes the 
penalty of his poor batting. 

Sec. 20. Players must make their bases in the order of 
sti'iking ; and when a fair ball is struck, and not caught flying, 
the first base must be vacated, as also the second and third 
bases, if they are occupied at the same time. Players may 
be put out on any Imsc, under these circumstances, in the same 
manner as the striker when running to the first base. 

Sec. 21. Players running bases must touch them; and, 
so far as possible, keep upon the direct lino between them ; 
and must touch them in the following order : first, second, 
third, and home ; and if returning must reverse this order ; 
and should any player run three feet out of this line, for the 
purpose of avoiding the ball in the hands of an adversary, he 
shall be declared out. 



RULES OF THE GA3IE. 49 

[A player failing to toucli his base must be declared out — 
after an appeal — unless be can retui-n to the base before be is 
touched.] 

Sec. 22. Any player, who shall intentionally prevent an 
adversary from catching or fielding the ball, shall be declared 
out. 

Sec. 23. If the player is prevented from making a base, 
by the intentional obstruction of an adversary, he shall be en- 
titled to that base, and not be put out. 

[These two latter sections are, of course, intended solely 
for any willful or unnecessary obstruction. It is impossible that 
a player, while in the act of fielding a swiftly sent ball, can 
always be on the lookout as to where his adversary is run- 
ning, or that a player running the bases can always be equally 
careful in regard to his preventing an adversary from getting 
to his base. Some base players have a habit of pushing 
players off their bases while in the act of receiving the ball. 
Such unfair play should be punished by promptly inflicting 
the above penalty.] 

Sec. 24. If an adversary stops the ball with his hat or 
cap, or if a ball be stopped by any person not engaged in the 
game, or if it he token from the hands of any one not en- 
guged in the game, no player can be put out unless the ball 
shall first have been settled in the hands of the pitcher. 

Sec. 25. If a ball, from the stroke of a bat, is held un- 
der any other circumstances than as enumerated in Section 22, 
and without having touched the ground more than once, the 
striker is out. 

Sec. 26. If two hands are already out, no player running 
home at the time the ball is struck, can make a run to count 
in the score of the game if the striker is put out. 

Sec. 27. An innings must be concluded at the time the 
third hand is put out. 

Sec. 28. The game should consist of nine innings to each 
3 



50 BASE BALL. 

side, when, should the number of runs he equal, the play 
shall be continued until a majority of runs, upon an equal 
number of innings, shall be declared, which shall conclude 
the game. 

Sec. 29. . In playing all matches, nine players from each 
club shall constitute a full field, and they must have been 
regular members of the club which they represent, and of no 
other club, either in or out of the National Association, for 
thirty days prior to the match. No change or substitution 
shall be made after the game has been commenced, unless for 
reason of illness or injiuy. Position of players and choice 
of innings shall be determined by captains, previously ap- 
pointed for that purpose by the respective clubs. 

[This rule of course excludes players belonging to Junior 
clubs from taking part in Senior club matches, and likewise ex- 
cludes players belonging to any base ball club, but not cricket 
clubs, as cricket is a distinct game of ball.] 

Sec. 30. The umpire shall take care that the regulations 
respecting the ball, bats, bases, and the pitcher's and striker's 
position, are strictly observed. He shall be the judge of fair 
and unfair play, and shall determine all disputes and differ- 
ences which may occur during the game; he shall take 
special care to declare all foul balls and baulks immediately 
upon their occurrence, unasked, in a distinct and audible 
manner. He shall, in every instance, before leaving the 
ground, declare the winning club, and shall record his de- 
cision in the books of the scorers. 

Sec. 31. In all matches the umpire shall be selected by 
the captains of the respective sides, and shall perform all the 
duties enumerated in Section 30, except recording the game, 
which shall be done by two scorers, one of whom shall be ap- 
pointed by each of the contending clubs. 

Sec. 32. No person engaged in a match, either as um- 
pire, scorfir, or player, shall be either directly or indirectly in- 



KULES OF THE GAME. 51 

terested in any bet upon the game. Neither umpire, scorer, 
nor player shall he changed during a match, unless with the 
consent of both parties (except for a violation of this law) 
except as provided in Section 29, and then the umpire may 
dismiss any transgressors. 

[This rale was almost entirely ignored last season; for 
there was scarcely a game played in which some one or other 
of the parties abovenamed did not bet on the result. This 
year more care will be taken to observe the rule ; for those 
who bet large sums on the leading contests of the season, in- 
tend to dispute the loss of their bets in all cases wherein this 
rule is not observed ; and they will have the right — according 
to the best sporting authority — to hold the stake-holder re- 
sponsible in every instance in which he pays over the stakes to 
the winner when this rule has been broken ; for under such 
circumstances the wager is not fairly won, unless those who 
bet mutually agree beforehand to allow of such infringement 
of the rules of the game.] 

Sec. 33. The umpire in any match shall determine when 
play shall be suspended ; and if the game cannot be con- 
cluded, it shall be decided by the last even innings, provided 
five innings have been played, and the party having the 
greatest number of runs shall be declared the winner. 

Sec. 34. Clubs may adopt such rules respecting balls 
knocked beyond or outside of the bounds of the field, as the 
circumstances of the ground may demand ; and these rules 
shall govern all matches played upon the ground, provided, 
that they are distinctly made known to every player and um- 
pire, previous to the commencement of the game. 

Sec. 35. No person shall be permitted to approach or to 
speak with the umpire, scorers, or players, or in any manner 
to interrupt or interfere during the progress pf the game, un- 
less by special request of the umpire. 

Sec. 36. No person shall be permitted to act as umpire 



62 BASE BALL. 

or scorer in any matcli, unless he shall be a member of a Base- 
Ball Club governed by these rules. 

This rule has never been properly observed. Every club 
should appoint a regular scorer for the season, and he should 
be competent to record the fielding as well as batting score of 
the game. Until this is done a full analysis of the season's 
play of a club can not be obtained. 

Sec. 37. Whenever a match shall have been determined 
upon between two clubs, play shall be called at the exact 
hour appointed ; and should either party fail to produce their 
players within fifteen minutes thereafter, the party so failing 
shall admit a defeat. 

[This rule has always been a dead letter. When clubs 
appoint a time for calling the game, it should be promptly 
proceeded with after the time allowed by the rule has expired.] 

Sec. 38. Any match game played by any club in contra- 
vention of the rules adopted by this Association, shall be 
considered null and void, and shall not be counted in the list 
of match games won or lost, except a game be delayed by 
rain beyond the time appointed to commence the same. Any 
match game can be put off by mutual consent of the parties 
about engaging in the game. No match game shall be com- 
menced in the rain. 

[This is a new rule and was designed to obviate the diffi- 
culty attending upon the repudiation of any rule of the game 
any two clubs may mutually agree to ignore. Thus, for in- 
stance, any two clubs agreeing to allow a member of either 
club to play in a match who has not been a member for thirty 
days previous to a match, by this rule cannot claim the ball 
won, or count the match played as a regular game. The ex- 
ception made in case of rain refers to that rule which requires 
a game to be commenced within fifteen minutes of the time 
appointed.] 

Sec. 39. No person who shall be in arrears to any other 



RULES OF THE GAME. 53 

club, or wlio sliall at any time receive compensation for his 
services as player, shall be competent to play in any match. 

Sec, 40. Should a striker stand at the bat without strik- 
ing at good balls repeatedly pitched to him, for the apparent 
purpose of delaying the game, or of giving advantage to a 
player, the umpire, after warning him, shall call one strike, 
and if he persists in such action, two and three strikes. 
When three strikes are called he shall be subject to the same 
rules as if he had struck at three fair balls. 

[Section 40 is a rule that should be strictly enforced, as it 
refers to a part of the game that is oft-times a very tedious 
and annoying feature. How often do we see the strilcer, the 
moment his predecessor has made his first base, stand still at 
the home base and await the moment when the player on the 
first base can avail himself of the failure of either the pitcher 
or catcher to hold the ball while tossing it backward and for- 
ward to each other. Some catchers — chiefly among boys, 
however — actually stand to the right of the home base pur- 
posely for this style of game ; and even when the pitcher and 
catcher are inclined to do their duty, the batsman is not, and 
the latter is frequently allowed to stop the progress of the 
game by his refusal to strike at good balls, iinder the plea 
that they do not suit him, when it is apparent to all that he 
simply wants to allow his partner to get to his second base. 
In every respect it is preferable to play the game manfully, 
and without resorting to any such trickery as this, which not 
only tires the spectator, but detracts from the merit of the 
game itself. Even under the new rule of pitching this unfair 
play was practiced last season. It is to be hoped that um- 
pires will do their duty this year, and put an entire stop to 
it, which they have the power to do.] 

Sec. 41. Every match hereafter made shall be decided by 
the best two games ou.t of three, unless a single game shall 
be mutually agreed upon by the contesting clubs. 



54 BASE BALL. 



ON THE SELECTION AND MEASURING 
OF A GROUND. 

It is of the greatest importance that a Base Ball ground 
should be perfectly level and as free as possible from all ob- 
structions in the shape of irregularities, stones, &c., and a 
fine, short turf will be found to add materially to the comfort 
of the players. The length of the field should be 600 feet, 
while the breadth about 400. The home base or batter's 
stand, should be 70 feet from the head of the field. The 
space between the home base and the catcher's stand, must 
be firmly packed earth as hard and level as a billiard table. 
The bases should be square blocks of wood covered with a 
double thickness of canvas and they are sometimes stuffed 
with hair to prevent accidents from falling, and here let us 
suggest that one point be not overlooked in preparing the 
ground, that is the erection of seats protected by an awning, 
for the accommodation of the "fair sex," who manifest great 
interest in this game, and whose presence never fails to inspire 
the players with renewed ardor. 

The bases should bo firmly secured by leathern straps pass- 
ing completely around them. The simplest method of laying 
out your ground is to first detennine the point of your home 
base. Then measure down the field 127 feet 4 inches; which 
will give the position of your second base. Then taking a 
cord 180 feet in length and fastening cither end to the second 
and home bases, by grasping the center and extending it to the 
right and left you have the points of your first and third 
bases. You have now found a square whose sides are 90 feet. 
Then draw a line from the home to second base, and at a 
point 45 feet from the former will be the pitcher's first point, 
and three feet further on the same line his second point. 



THE GROUND : DIAGRAM. 



55 



Posts painted wHte, and elevated from the ground so as to 
be distinctly seen by the umpire, are placed on a line with the 
home and first base, and home and third base, at least 100 



Scorer. 



M Catcher. 



Umpire. 



Batpman's ^^ Position. 
Six (n) Feet. 




Right m Field 



Center li Field. 
DIAGEAM OF BASE BALL FIELD 



Lefii m Field. 



feet from the bases. These are termed "foul ball 

and are used by the umpire in his decisions in reference to 

foul balls. 



56 BASE BALL. 



PITCHER'S POINT AND HOME BASE. 

Both the pitcher's point and the home base are indicated 
by iron quoits not less than nine inches in diameter and 
painted white, secured by means of iron spikes from beneath. 
A plank sis feet in length, two inches in width, and inserted 
in the earth six or eight inches deep, with enough edge above 
ground so that it may be distinctly seen by the umpire, marks 
the line of the pitcher's position. 



ON THE USE OF THE BAT. 

All bats and balls used are made regulation size, and the 
bats of different woods as may suit the striker. For a light bat 
the English willow is prized by many, as its tough, close 
fibre recommends it to the heavy batter, as well as the ease 
with which it can be wielded. With those who prefer a 
heavier bat the ash and hickory are favorites. A light bat is 
'generally preferred to a heavier one as it meets a swiftly 
pitched ball with greater promptness. There are nearly as 
many different modes of handling the bat as there are players. 
We see some grasping it with the left hand on the handle, and 
sliding the right swiftly down the bat. Others take the bat 
near the middle, others swing it with a long sweeping stroke, 
while still another class hold it as in Cricket, pointing to the 
ground. 

It is not so necessary to strike a powerful blow as to hit 
with quickness, and at the same time maintain a firm and 
natural position. It is not the heaviest, who make the most 
powerful batters. Stand with the foot on. the line of the 
striker's position, and be prepared to strike as soon as -the 
ball leaves the pitcher's hand. 



HOW IT IS PLAYED^ bf 



DESCEIPTION" OF THE . GAME. 

In order to play the game of Base Ball, nine players~of a 
side are necessary, one side taking the bat and the other 
the field. Their relative positions are generally determined 
hy tossing a coin. A full game consists of nine innings to 
each side, an iiniing lasting until three players are " put out," 
either at the bat or while running the bases, as -will be seen 
by referring to the rules. The side scoring the largest num- 
ber of runs during the game is. declared victorious. The list 
of fielders comprise catcher, pitcher, first, second and third 
basemen, short stop, right, center and left fieldsmen^ ^ When 
each one is in his appointed place, the captain of the fielding 
niae calls out "ready," to which the umpire promptly re- 
sponds "play!" — and upon the first ball which leaves the 
pitcher's hand the game commences. 

The batsman or striker stands at the home base on a line 
drawn through its center, parallel to one extending from first 
to third base and extending three feet on each side of it. The 
batsman requires, considerable judgment to assist him in ef- 
fectually striking at balls. He must have a quick eye and 
ready hand to meet 'the deceptive pitching of an experienced 
player. If these qualities are wantmg he may find himself 
suddenly ca\xght out on a "foul tip," or forced ingloriously 
to rethe on a " three strike." As soon as the ball is struck, 
it is the duty of a batsman to run at once for the first base, 
and should he arrive there before the ball reaches the base- 
man he is said to have " made his base." Many players ac- 
quire the habit of pausing to watch the course of a ball which 
may possibly fall vdthin the ".foul lines," or if an " an- ball " 
be struck, waiting to see if it is caught by a fielder, before 
he starts for his base. This is wrong, as if it prove a " foul," 
the umpire will announce it in time for the player to return, 
3* 



58 BASE BALL. 

and should the " fly ball " be missed or " muffed," the player 
is well on his way to the base. Upon reaching his base, the 
striker is succeeded by the next batsman on the list, and 
when three of these are "put out," the fielders take their 
turn at the bat. A run is scored by a player touching in suc- 
cession the four bases, avoiding being himself touched by the 
ball while running. A home run is made by his hitting the 
ball to such a distance that he makes the four bases before it 
is returned. In case of a tie at the close of the ninth inning 
the game may be prolonged until one or the other of the con- 
testants obtain the most runs on even innings. 

Should anything occur to put a stop to the game, before 
five innings have been played by each side the game is de- 
clared drawn. For all other necessary particulars in regard 
to the game, the reader is referred to the preceding rules and 
regulations. 



FIELD POSITIONS. 



The duty of this player is to catch or stop all balls pitched 
or thrown to the home base. To fill this position properly, 
requires no small measure of dexterity and skill, always on 
the alert to secure foul bounds and tips, with a vigilant eye 
to the bases, together with precision and power in throwing 
to them, the catcher's position is so important that he is gener- 
ally chosen captain of the nine. 

After a striker has made his first base, the catcher should 
advance toward the pitcher and stand directly behind the bat 
so as to take the balls before they bound and by throwing 
swiftly at the second base cut off a player from making that 



CATCHER, PITCHER, AND SHORT STOP. 59 

base. When a ball is batted high to long field and several 
fielders run to catcli it, lie should distinctly call the fielder by 
name -whom he thinks surest to take it, when the others should 
pause, and strive only to take it on the bound, should it be 
missed on the fly. 



The position of the player is behind a line four yards in 
length, drawn at right angles from the home to second base, 
at a distance of 45 feet from the former base. Four feet 
in the rear of this line, in another parallel to it and in the 
space between these two must the pitcher stand, immediately 
before, and while delivering the ball. Both feet must be 
firmly planted on the ground while he is pitching, and he 
should be careful not to jerk or throw the ball, but deliver it 
directly over the home base and for the striker. The pitcher 
is frequently called upon to supply the places of basemen 
while they are fielding, and it is of great importance that he 
should be a ready catcher and good fielder. A ball pitched 
at a high rate of speed, and at the same time containing a 
bias or "twist" will prove the most efiective. As this posi- 
tion calls for a great amount of physical labor, some person 
who is not easily fatigued should be selected to fill it. 



$. Th^ %\x(yti Stop* 

The duties of this player are many and arduous, and his 
position the most dangerous one on the field. He stands in 
the center of the triangle formed by the second and third 
bases and pitcher's position, though he should vary his posi- 
tion according to his knowledge of different player's style of 
batting. It is to this spot that nearly all the swiftly batted 
ground balls come, which require more nerve and practice to 



60 BASE BALL. 

stop than any other. Upon securing the ball the short stop 
should pass it swiftly to whatever base a player may he run- 
ning for, generally to the first. He should be on the alert to 
cover the third base when the catcher throws to it ; to back 
up the second when receiving a ball from the fielders, and 
also to take balls on the bound when missed by the third base- 
man or pitcher. 



4, First Bas^» 

This player should be a splendid catch, and able to hold 
swiftly sent balls, as he will be obliged to take them from the 
pitcher and short stop, more frequently than any of the other 
basemen. ' He should play a little below his base, and inside 
the line of the foul ball post in order to seciu'e balls which 
would otherwise pass him. As soon as the ball is struck he 
should return to his base and with one foot upon it stand ready 
to receive the ball from whatever player may have fielded it. 

This is the only base where a player can be put out with- 
out being touched by the ball, (excepting balls caught on 
the fly, or those that are fouled) as it is only necessary that 
the baseman with ball in hand touch the base before the striker 
reaches it. He should instantly deliver the ball to the pitcher 
or to any base where it may be necessary. 



Many ball players consider this position to be the most im- 
portant point in the whole game, and with good reason. It 
should never be filled but by an accurate thrower, a sure 
catcher and a thorough fielder. As most of the balls pass to 
the left of this base it is well to play in that direction and a 
little back of it, although when a player reaches the first base 



THIRD BASE, AND OTHEU FIELD POSITIONS. 61 

the baseman should instantly return. The second base can 
give material aid to the pitcher by backing him up closely, 
and not suffering a ball to pass them both if possible to stop 
it. If he fails to catch a ball, let him by all means stop it 
in some way, in order to put out a player by touching him, 
then return it to the pitcher. 



C Third Bas^v . 

The position of third baseman is quite as important as any 
of the others, as in this direction pass the majority of foul 
balls, which with dexterity may be taken on the fly. As he 
has considerable fielding to perform it is best that he play 
away from his base, except when a player runs either to or 
from it. He should never attempt to hinder a player from 
teaching his base, and this advice should be taken and acted- 
upon by all basemen. 



Here is a chance for the display of the finest of fielding, as 
half of the air balls are sent in this direction. The left fielder 
is required to be a swift runner, powerful thrower, and an ex- 
cellent catcher in order to acceptably fill this position. 



This player should be in readiness to back up the second 
base, and should never go to long field except when a heavy 
hitter is at -the bat. He is requned to possess nearly the 
same qualities which distinguish the left fielder. 



62 BASE BALL. 



9. m^u mM. 

It is difficult to find a poor place in any of tte nine posi- 
tions in a well contested game of Base BaU, but if there is 
one wliieli is at all inferior to the rest, the right field should 
be so considered, simply because balls are sent in this direc- 
tion but occasionally. Yet it is important that this field be 
occupied by one who understands his business, as the batsman 
if he sees signs of weakness there, will soon take advantage 
of his discovery by batting frequently into that quarter. 



One of the most undesirable positions on a Base Ball field 
is that of the umpire. He cannot fail to displease some one 
by his decisions, though he govern himself by the strictest 
rules of the game. Great firmness here is necessary in sup- 
porting a decision, and on any doubtful point it is better that 
he adhere to his first impressions as they are most likely to 
prove correct. No one should be allowed to approach, or 
converse with the umpire during a game. He should close 
both eyes and ears to everything outside of the game in pro- 
gression, and allow no remarks of whatever nature in reference 
to his judgment to influence him in the least. AU foul balls 
should be called in a loud, clear and distinct tone of voice, 
and no member of a club should question any decision, how- 
ever incorrect it may appear to them, but cheerfully acquiesce, 
and if corrections are to be made, there will be plenty of 
time at the conclusion of the game. It is unnecessary to add 
that the person acting as umpire should possess a thorough 
knowledge of the game in all its details. He must keep a 
strict watch upon both pitcher and striker, and if necessary 
call strikes or balls upon them in accordance with the rules. 



THE UMPIRE AND SCORER. 



63 



His position is to the right of and between tlie striker and 
catclier, on a line between tbe borne and third base. 



The scorer may be regarded as the cleric of the game, and it 
is his duty to record the score of each player, and make a fiill 
and complete showing of each man's standing throughout the 
game. The same person should always be appointed scorer 
in all match games, and he should be selected as well for his 
gentlemanly qualities as for his familiarity with the game. 




Arcliery. 




RCHERY was formerly one of tlie chief 
pastimes of England, and at different pe- 
riods in modern days it has been a fash- 
ionable amusement; and in thia country 
it has been practiced in some few localities. 
Archery is a healthful and agreeable pas- 
time, and ought to be revived and in gen- 
eral use all over this country ; it is scarcely 
excelled by any recreation in which pro- 
priety permits young ladies to indulge. 
The attitude of an accomplished female archer (for archery 
is not to be acquired without much practice) at the moment 
of bending the bow is particularly gracefal ; all the actions 
and positions tend at once to produce a proper degree of 
strength in the limbs and to impart a general elegance of 
bearing. 

Ladies usually shoot at a distance of about fifty yards. 
Two targets are placed opposite each other, and the archers 
shoot from one to the other ; that is, when all the party have 
shot at one target, they walk up to it, gather their arrows, 
and shoot back to the one they came from, to which they 
again return when their an-ows are expended; and so on, 



BOWS, ARROWS, AND ATTITUDE. 65 

shooting from one to tte other in rotation. In that way not 
merely the arm, but the whole frame, enjoys the benefit of 
salutary exercise in the open air, while the mind is interested 
and the sphits elevated by the sport. 

The attitude in shooting is a matter of much importance ; 
the feet should be a few inches apart, the neck slightly curved, 
so as to bring the head a little downward ; the face, but no 
part of the front of the body, is to be turned towards the 
mark. The left arm must be held out quite straight to the 
wrist, which should be bent inwards ; the bow is to be held 
easy in the hand ; and the aiTOW, when drawn, should be 
brought, not towards the eye, but the ear. The right hand 
should begin to draw the string as the left raises the bow ; 
when the arrow is three parts drawn, the aim is to be taken. 
In doing this the head of the arrow should appear to the right 
of the mark ; the arrow is then drawn to its head, and imme- 
diately loosened. 

To draw the arrow from the mark or ground it should be 
taken by the hand, as near the head of the arrow as possible, 
and extracted in the same direction as it entered. If these 
instructions be not attended to, the young ai'cher will break 
many arrows in drawing them from the ground, or the mark, 
when she is so successful as to hit it. 

In selecting a bow the chief point to be attended to is the 
adaptation of the bow to the strength of the person who is to 
use it. Bows, arrows, and accoutrements can easily be ob- 
tained in any city. Any boy can find good material for bows 
in almost any piece of woods, and easily make a bow for him- 
self or his lady friends. 

Targets are made of wood and generally painted m circles. 
The central point is the one to be aimed at by the archers. 

The same dresses used at Croquet parties are deshable for 
Archery, and add much to the graceful appearance of the 
Archer. 



66 



ARCHERY. 



Let us become skillful Archers and have Archery meetings 
as of old, and let ladies and gentlemen, or boys and gii'ls, con- 
tend for the prizes. 

It is useless here to give an elaborate essay on the history 
of Archery ; any person sufficiently enthusiastic to desire it, 
can easily obtain English books containing detailed directions 
on Archery, and its history from ancient to modern times. 




Grardening, Flowers. 




"E, as a nation, are not a happy, home- 
I loving people. The "spirit of unrest" 
I pervades .all classes. 

This enterprising, nneasy spirit, has 
been, and is, of benefit to us as a com- 
paratively new country, in settling and 
breaking our wild Western lands. 

But the time has come, when it is well 
to curb that spuit, and cultivate all quiet, 
home-loving influences. 

Therefore, I beseech you, parents, to begin in earliest in- 
fancy, to cultivate a love of the beautiful in nature, give 
your little ones flowers ; and as soon as they are able to play 
in the garden, give them a little spot of their own to dig in ; 
and when they can understand the process, give them seeds to 
plant, and some few flowers to cultivate. I can tell you of a 
happy cottage home, where the children, from earliest infancy, 
have lived among flowers. Each had their tiny garden, with 
spade, hoe, trowel and watering-pot. The father and m<)ther 
would also assist with their own hands in training vines, roses 
and shrubs, in artistic beauty. The good father never went 
to his counting-room without some flowers in his hand, or in 



68 GARDENING AND FLOWERS. 

the button-hole of his coat, the valued gift from the tiny gar- 
den of one of his darlings. Years passed and fortune favored 
them, but they never would exchange their cottage home, with 
its vines, trees and slirubs, for all the stately mansions in the 
town. And as the daughters married, and the sons left to 
seek their fortunes, they would look back with intense longing 
to their loved home ; and joyous were then- meetings around 
the home Christmas tree. 

On Sundays they always, even in midwinter, ornamented 
their social table with flowers, for . they are God's smiles. 
Therefore, my friends, I speak from observation, and from 
seeing the effect of an opposite coixrse. If you wish to lessen 
your doctor's bill, and give the beauty of robust health and 
happiness to your children, girls or boys, give them a garden 
and let them plant, weed and water it. If your children 
bring you even a simple field daisy, express your pleasure to 
them, and let them not see you cast it aside. 

Teach your boys the use of a pruning-knife, and how to 
graft ; then give them some trees to experiment upon. You 
may save them from dissipation, by giving them a taste for 
Horticulture. It is a happy, health-giving employment. 

Decorate even your barn with graceful vines. The poorest 
house can be made an agreeable place, by transplanting a few 
of the many simple, wild vines. It is not natural to love in^ 
tensely a stiff, ungainly object. 

I have often thought, as I have roamed about the farming 
districts of New England, and have seen the many great, 
stiff, square houses, with not a gTaceful tree, or flower to re- 
lieve their nakedness, (though now and then a syringa, or 
lilac bush, or cinnamon rose, and perhaps a stately old butter- 
nut, may be seen,) the sons and daughters of those house- 
holds will surely emigrate. Utility is our hobby. Some 
farmers think it waste time to plant a flower, as it yields no 
finiit. 



FOR HEALTH, PLEASURE, AND THE CHILDREN. 69 

Kemember the old saying, "all work and no playmates 
Jack a dull boy." You that dwell in a city, strive to have a 
small spot in the country to which you may send your children 
m Summer, to roam at will. I heard a little child, in urging 
her mother to go into the country in vaiti, cry out, " It is too, 
too bad, mamma, I know God did not make the city for little 
children, because he loves us." 

Do not waste your money at fashionable watering-places. 
Even in early years, take your children to the woods and let 
them see nature in its wild state. There is nothing like a day 
in the woods for refreshing us all, in body and mind. The 
wild music of running brooks is so lulling, the birds carol 
their "native wood-notes wild " so sweetly, the strange blended 
odor of the damp mould, the leaves, the wild flowers, and the 
prospecf of the distant meadow, are so delightful ; the play 
of the sunlight through the dense foliage, and on the sylvan 
walks, is so beautiful, and the quiet is so marked, after the 
hum and roar of a city, that the mind is tranquilized, and 
both you and your children will be nearer to God, and nearer 
to one another, for every hour so. spent. Our whole country 
is full of wild beauty. Spend your spare money in decorating 
your homes with trees, flowers and shrubs. The influence 
upon your children will be far more beneficial. 

If your children wish for money to purchase seeds and 
flowers for. their gardens,. if possible, give it cheerfully. It 
is far better so spent than in dress and toys. Let them plan 
their own gardens and experiment as much as they please. A 
very pretty fence can be made round such gardens, by a num- 
ber of stakes of equal lengths pointed at one end to drive 
into the ground, square at the top, and painted green. Then 
place them at equal distances around your garden, and bore 
holes about six or seven inches apart for the twine, which 
should be brown linen. Pass the twine through the holes, in 
lines all around the garden. Plant vines which run -rapidly, 



70 GAKDENING AND FLOWERS. 

such as Cypress Vine, Maderia Vine, Nasturtium, Maurandya 
Barclayanna, 'Dwarf Convolvulus, Mountain Fringe, &c., &c. 
By midsummer your simple fence will be very beautiful. 

Having spent many years in cultivating flowers, perhaps a 
few practical directions from my own experience may be of 
service to my readers. 



HOW TO PLANT SEEDS. 

We often think because the seed we plant does not germi- 
nate that we have purchased poor seed, when the fault is in 
the manner of planting. 

Nearly all kinds of flower seeds require transplanting, 
therefore it is best to plant in boxes, pots, or hot-beds. Old 
cigar boxes are convenient and are easily handled, but first 
bore holes in the bottom of the boxes, and in your pots or 
boxes place either broken clam or oyster shells or pieces of old 
flower pots as a drainage ; then take light, rich earth and sift 
it or rub it carefully in your hands to be sure there are no 
lumps ; some bake the earth to destroy any insects which may 
be in it, but it answers the same purpose to pour boiling water 
on it. After you have filled your boxes or pots with this 
prepared earth, sprinkle your seed carefully over it, and sift 
over them light soil sufficient to cover them, moisten them 
with warm water, and place the box where there is but little 
light and throw a piece of paper over the top, A warm place 
will start them best. Let them remain thus several days, till 
the seeds have a chance to swell, before you give them much 
light, and keep the earth moist; (a sponge is excellent to 
water them, as it does not disturb the position of the seeds ; 
also use warm water,) as soon as you see they are sprouting 
give them light, and air, if not too cold, or else the plant will 



HOW TO PLANT SEEDS : VERBENAS, ETC. 71 

not have strength to grow well. Hot-beds are the best, and 
can be made with but little expense, by taking some old box, 
and if you do not possess an old window sash you can pur- 
chase one of some builder for a trifling sum of money, and 
fit it to your box by nailing strips at the sides ; dig a place the 
size of the box and two or three feet deep, fill it with horse 
manure mixed with straw, which is the most heating, then 
sprinkle soil over the top about six inches deep, place your 
box on the top, carefully heaping the earth around the outside, 
and your hot-bed is made, in which you can start your seeds 
and slips by either placing your boxes or pots in the earth on 
top of the manure and plant your seeds and slips in them, or 
as many prefer, planting in the soil of your hot-bed. After 
your seedling plants are of sufficient size to transplant, if you 
first transplant them into small pots, you can easily plant them 
in your flower beds without disturbing the roots, and the plants 
will not require covering ; you must first dig a hole and pour 
water into it, then carefully sHp the plant, dirt and all, from 
the pots and place into the hole made for it and press the 
earth tight around it. Of course they must remain in the pot 
till they are well rooted. In raising slips you need to mix in 
full half common scouring sand with the soU, and they must 
be shaded from the light several days. 

All who care for flowers will desire to raise Verbenas, as 
they blossom all Summer. If you wish to raise them from 
seed they should be sown in February or first of March. 
One secret in raising fine Verbenas is change of soil. It 
would be better to plant them every year in a different loca- 
tion, but if you renew the soil it will do to plant them twice in 
the same bed, but never three years in succession. Indeed, 
flowers as well as vegetables need constant change of soil; 
they soon exhaust the earth. Seeds are better that are raised 
in locations distant from the place where they are to be sown. 
Flowers soon deteriorate if you continue to plant over and over 



72 GARDENING AND FLOWEES. 

from seed raised in tlie same spot ; that is one of the reasons 
why seeds from Europe are generally preferred by florists. 
Japan Pink seed should he planted in March, in order to 
have them flower the first year ; they are hardy and blossom 
also the second year. Pansy seed should be planted as early 
as Verbenas. Ten "Weeks' Stock, Phlox Drummondi, Double 
Zinnias, Lobelia, Petunias, Portulaca, Salpiglossis, Candy- 
tuft, Larkspur, &c., should be planted in April. If you de- 
sire to raise Picotee or Carnation Pinks for the next year, and 
Canterbury Bells and Fox Grloves, sow in April. Sow Asters 
of all kinds the last of April or first of May. Some of the 
climbers, such as Maurandya, Barclayanna, Tropaeolum, com^ 
monly called Nastuiiiun, Cypress Vine, Thunbergia, &c., need 
transplanting, and better be sown early. Sweet Peas should 
be sown in the open soil about three inches deep, early in 
April. It is better to soak the seed in warm water before 
sowing. When they have germinated and as they begin to 
climb, fill in earth around them, and water now and then 
thoroughly with soap suds. Mignonette should not be trans- 
planted; sow the seed in the open soil the first of May. 
Candytuft and Sweet Alyssum, are -hardy, and the seed can 
be sown out of doors ; but if you have onqe had them, they 
will come up self sown ; look over your beds in Spring and 
take up such plants, when you have the soil prepared and 
beds made, then you can plant them back again where you 
desire. Joseph's .Coat is a very brilliant plant, its leaves are 
all shades of green, red and yellow; the seed can be sown 
either in or out of doors by the first of May, also Golden Cal- 
]iopsis. Balsams will gi-ow better if the seeds are not planted 
till the second week in May out of doors. 

All the flowers I have mentioned are desirable even in a 
small garden; of course there are hundreds of varieties of 
even annuals, but unless you have a gardener it is impossible 
to raise them all, for it is desirable even in a small garden to 



DIKECTIONS FOR CULTIVATION. 73 

have some flowers raised by slips, or bought from some green- 
house, such as Fuchsias, Double Feverfews, Scarlet G-eraniums, 
Heliotropes, Rose Geraniums, Lemon Yerbenas, Monthly 
Boses and Hardy Perpetuals, &c. Hardy Perpetual Roses 
are desirable in every garden, they grow so thrifty and blos- 
som all summer, and with a Httle covering will live out all 
Winter ; and if they are showered often early in the Spring 
while the dew is on the roses, with whale oil soap suds, using 
a syringe to shower them, it will prevent the usual damage 
done by the slug. If you have a shady, moist place in your 
garden there you can plant your Lily of the YaUey, double 
blue English Yiolet, Forget-me-not, and Pansy. 

Fuchsias also require some shade. Heliotropes and Gera- 
niums will bear enriching more than most plants ; often water- 
ing with guano water is excellent. A table-spoonful of guano 
to a common water-pail full of water is sufficiently strong. It 
also improves Pansies, Fuchsias and nearly all plants except 
Roses. Soap suds is better for Roses and Yerbenas, at least 
according to my experience. Nearly all plants make a finer 
show in a garden arranged either in beds, each variety by it- 
self, or in clusters. Before planting your garden in Spring 
it is well to carefully consider the nature of each flower, and 
arrange your garden so that each flower can be displayed to 
advantage ; never plant promiscuously ; it is astonishing what 
a difference landscape gardening will make in the general 
aspect of even a small place. It is quite as desirable as to 
arrange the colors in a picture to harmonize. Even an old 
stump of a tree can be made beautiful by planting vines 
around it, or by scooping out the top and filling in soil, and 
planting Nierembergia, Lobelia, Double Nasturtium, Yarie- 
gated Myrtle, &c., in it. Those I have mentioned blossom all 
Summer, except the Myrtle, the leaves of which are as beauti- 
ful as many flowers. 

If we ladies would spend less time on our dress and in ar- 
4 



7-i GARDENING AND TLOWEES. 

rangeuients for the table, and take that time for working in 
our gardens with, our children, we should not only make our 
homes more attractive but we should gain in health and 
strength. Early every Spring call a family council to decide 
the arrangement of your flower garden. Let your boys have 
a place to raise vegetables as a pastime. Encourage them to 
diligence by promising to purchase all they will raise ; in 
that way they can earn money to give to the poor, or for their 
Christmas presents ; even children will take far more pleasure 
in giving what they have really earned with their own hands. 



EEENEKIES. 



Is it not, my friends, very pleasant to have a bit of the 
Summer woods in our parlors in midwinter ? Such a pleas- 
ure is within the reach of us all, with but little trou.ble and 
expense. Those who live iq. cities and cannot go into the 
country, surely must have some friend who can supply them, 
or the materials can be obtained at any public green-house. 
First you require a glass dome, or what is stUl better, take 
five panes of glass any size you please, four to form the sides, 
one for the top, fasten the glass together with a light wooden 
frame, then take any tin dish, like a baking pan, or if round 
a tin plate or jelly cake pan, or a tin dish can be made to fit 
it for a trifling sum of money; paint the tin green on the 
outside. Then collect some pieces of broken flower pots, or 
still better, bits of marble, granite or any stone and scatter 
them around the tin dish, placing in the center some moss- 
grown stump or stick, and pile the stones around it; then col- 
lect from the woods, ferns, mosses, partridge-vines with its 
bright red berries, (indeed, any plant will grow in these ferne- 
ries which can be. found in moist places in the woods ;) take xip 



TEKNERIES : IVIES. 75 

a little of the leaf mould in which they grow, they need hut 
little soil, arrange your plants spreading the roots carefully 
over the stones, scattering a little leaf mould on them, and 
placing your mosses around the whole. The tallest plants 
should form the center, but in arranging even ferneries, it is 
more agreeable to exercise your own taste. Before placing 
your globe or glass frame over your fernery, sprinkle the 
plants thoroughly, then cover with the glass, and let it re- 
main a few days in the shade. You can keep them where 
you please, but I think they grow better near a window ; be 
very careful not to water them too often, once a month is gen- 
erally sufficient ; if too wet they will mould and die ; when 
there is but little moisture on the glass, it is well to raise the 
glass to ascertain if it is dry. My fernery has been made four 
years, it has required but little care ; now and then I add a 
new fern, some moss, or any suitable plant gathered from the 
woods, and remove any dried ferns or leaves. It often re- 
news itself. Trailing arbutus and partridge-vines will blossom 
in ferneries. It is always pleasant to the eye and no care after 
the first expense and trouble. Ivy and Lycopodium grow 
well in ferneries, but the rare ferns, &c., from green-houses do 
not flourish as well as those plants taken from our native woods. 



IVIES. 

English Ivies are a great ornament to our rooms, and 
are hardy and require very little care. After the first two 
years they grow quite rapidly, therefore it .is well to procure 
two year old plants, train them on your curtains, over your 
windows and pictures. Many make a mistake by changing 
the pots very often, thinking they require a very large pot, 
which is not so, for they do not require as much earth as 



76 GARDENING AND FLOWEES. 

many j)lants, only keep tliem moist, and have ricli loam for 
the soil ; it is well to water them every month with guano 
water, prepared according to the same rule given for flowers. 
The poet's ivy is very pretty, the leaf being quite small. The 
most beautiful ivy I ever saw was one that never was removed 
from its place Summer or Winter ; it filled a large bay win- 
dow, encircled the whole room and wound around many 
pictures ; now and then a gardener came and changed the soil, 
and the leaves were occasionally washed. Hanging baskets 
of moss with flowers growing in it, are exceedingly pretty in 
Winter. 



PEESSED FLOWEES. 



To press flowers, to be arranged on paper hke a painting, you 
must take some plain white wrapping paper, (in Paris you 
can obtain paper prepared by a chemical process to preserve 
the colors) and place your flowers or leaves carefully between 
two sheets of the paper. Then press them by placing a heavy 
weight over them, (letter presses are excellent) and leave 
them a day or two, then change the paper ; thus the juices of 
the flowers are absorbed. It takes a week or two to press 
perfectly, and in Summer often longer. When dry, place 
them in a book or some ak-tight box ready for use. A year 
is required to make a varied and handsome collection, as each 
flower has its own season for blossoming. Wild flowers re- 
tain their colors better than cultivated ; but experience alone 
will teach you what flowers will retain their color best. Many 
pretend to be able to preserve all kinds of flowers, but it is im- 
possible. I will give a list of flowers which are known to re- 
tain their color by this mode of pressing. 

All Geraniums (except the horse-shoe and sweet-scented), 
preserve their color. They are very essential, as their colors 
are brilliant and keep for years. All yellow flowers both 



PEESSED FLOWERS. 77 

wild and cultivated- retain tlieir color. The Violet and Pansy, 
Dwarf Blue Convolvulus, Blue Larkspur, Blue Myi-tle, Blue 
Lobelia, Heaths, the small original lied Fuchsia, Wild Housa- 
tonia, and many tiny blue, and even white flowers press perfectly. 

For green. Ivy, Maiden Hair, Ferns or Brake, Mosses, &c., 
retain their color best. Rarely a cultivated green leaf presses 
well. Autumn leaves, if small, and the youngest oak leaves 
mix in well. Certain kinds of stems such as Pansy, and others 
of similar character, are best adapted for pressing. 

After your collection is made, take some card-board, with- 
out a polish if possible, and arrange your flowers as you de- 
sign to have them. Grum them to the paper with tragacanth, 
using a camel's hair brush, then press on the paper and flower 
with a cloth, carefully absorbing all moisture, as well as firmly 
pressing the flower on the paper. Geraniums and some large 
flowers look better if each leaf is glued on separately. 

In forming your bouquet, it is better to arrange the stems 
first and work upwards. Baskets and vases of moss with 
flowers are pretty. To form these, you must trace out with a 
pencil your vase or basket, and glue on the moss. Then ar- 
range your flowers. 

I have heard amusing criticisms on the coloring of such bou- 
quets, from persons who mistook them for paintings. Framed 
and covered with a glass, they make ornamental pictures. 

It is a pleasant way of preserving mementos of friends, 
places or events. Flower albums or journals arc very beauti- 
ful. V/reaths arranged of different varieties of Pelargoniums 
mixed in with any pretty green, and other little flowers, such 
as Lobelias, are very handsome and the colors are durable. 
Pansies of different shades look well, and brilliant wreaths 
may be made of all the varieties of flowers that hold their 
color. The oval shape looks the best for wreaths. 

There are innumerable varieties of Ferns, Lycopodiums and 
Maiden Hair, both native and foreign, suitable for pressing. 



78 GARDENING AND FLOWEES. 

By pasting eacli specimen on a separate sheet and interspers- 
ing specimens of our beautiful Autumn leaves also on separ- 
ate sheets, and fastening them together, either bound as a 
book or in a portfolio, you will possess a beautiful and attrac- 
tive book with but little expense. 

Crosses can be arranged with ferns and shaded to appear 
as if painted in perspective, and look like a cross standing on 
a mossy bank, with flowers, &c., growing around and over it. 
First draw and shade your cross as a guide, then take the 
small leaflets of the darkest colored ferns you can procure, 
and glue them on carefully where the cross should be in 
shadow darkest, then take the brighter green ferns (such as 
are gathered in Spring,) and end with the white ferns (which 
can only be obtained in the Fall) , using them for the lightest 
shade ; be careful to cover every part and «hade it with na- 
ture's colors as you would with paint ; in a cross sis inches 
high and suitably proportioned, fuU two hundred of the tiny 
leaflets of the fern may be used to good advantage before it 
is completed. Then take wild Lycopodium if you can ob- 
tain it, if not, the finest of the cultivated, and arrange it on 
your cross to look like a vine growing over and hanging from 
it ; also paste on to it tiny little pressed Lobelias, and arrange 
small ferns, mosses and any little flowers (wild ones are 
preferable), around the base of the cross to look like a mossy 
bank. Different designs can befarranged in the same way. 

Be very careful in pasting on flowers and leaves that every 
part, however small, is firmly fixed to the paper ; press them 
on after pasting with a dry cloth. 



STKAWBEKRIES. 

A FEW hints as regards the cultivation of Strawberries may 
bo useful to both boys and girls ; for fine berries can be raised 
even on a small plot of ground, if the soil be rich. Plants 



STRAWBERRIES. 79 

for a new bed should be set out early in tbe Spring ; tbe roots 
will tlien grow strong and the plants will be better able to 
bear the cold of Winter. Some gardeners prefer to plant 
their strawberry roots in August, or even late in the Autumn, 
and if the Winter is mild, or deep snows coyer the ground, 
the vines will live and bear fruit the next Summer. Some 
prefer to raise strawberries in hills, but the most prolific vines 
are those planted in beds about three feet wide with a path 
between, filled with straw, to keep the fruit from the ground ; 
it is well to cut off most of the runners. Of course the beds 
should be kept free from weeds. There are many new varie- 
ties, but the old Hovey's Seedling is as reliable as any and 
very prolific. The Eussell is easily propagated ; vines planted 
in April will often yield fine strawberries in June. The Wit 
son is a profitable strawben-y for the market because of its 
large yield, but it is hardly equal in flavor to the Hovey. 
The Hovey will soon run out if planted by itself; it requires 
some other kind to be planted with it. The Pine is usually 
the variety selected for that purpose. It is useless to enumer- 
ate the several varieties, for nearly every locality has its 
favorite strawberry. Some kinds will scarcely bear a perfect 
berry in some locations, while in a different locality the same 
berry will be loaded with perfect fruit. Sometimes a healthy 
and vigorous looking bed of strawberry-plants will produce 
but few berries — then you must examine the blossoms, those 
which bear fruit will have the berry formed in the flower — 
while others will blossom freely but do not bear fruit ; these 
are the male plants and it is better to leave but few of them 
in your strawberry beds. When you plant the new roots dig 
a hole with a trowel and fill it with water, then spread out 
the roots and pack the earth close around them, but when 
they are fully rooted and commence to grow, the earth should 
be kept loose around them. 

Strawbeny plants should be replanted every third year ; it 



80 GARDENING AND FLOWERS. 

is best to change the location of the bed if possible, or at 
least to renew the soil. Boys or girls who raise and. gather 
from their own little garden a dish of strawberries will find 
great pleasxire in presenting it to their friends as fruits of 
their own labor. 



GRAPES. 

The care of the grape-vine is a pleasant occupation. To 
gather the rich, ripe bunches of its delicious fruit is a grand 
enjoyment. Almost every one can command a spot of ground 
sufficient for the liberal support of a grape-vine. It may be 
planted in any unappropriated comer about the house — a 
sunny spot is to be preferred, but a vine may do well with but 
little direct sunshine, if it is well sheltered and properly cared 
for. It may be planted at the foot of a tree, the branches of 
which are not near the ground, and it will, find its way high 
up the tree and will yield large crops of fine fruit hidden 
among its own thick foliage and that of the tree, provided the 
ground immediately about its roots can be reached and kept 
warm by the sun's rays. 

As it grows it will endeavor to adapt' itself to the cireum- 
«tances that surround it, and will take the direction your taste 
or convenience require it to follow. Its flexible branches are 
obedient to the gentle hand of the careful cultivator. -You may 
train it upon stakes six or eight feet high, or upon a low trellis 
where the fruit will be within easy reach of your hand. You 
may have the fruit within a few inches of the ground, or by 
removing all the lower branches of the vine, you can cause 
the ripe bunches to hang in graceful festoons around and over 
the window of your chamber, high above the reach of aeci- 
dent and pilferers. , The grape-vine will do as it is bid, which 



GEAPES. 81 

is miicli more than can be said of some young people, whose 
eyes sparkle at the sight of its fruit. 

In preparing the ground in which to plant the vine, refer- 
ence must he had to the character of the soil. If the soil is 
clayey and cold, or if the neighboring surface is such as to 
turn an undue proportion of the rains upon the place where 
you propose to plant your vine, care must be taken to secure 
for the roots of the vine a sufficient drainage. If the roots 
of the vine are surrounded by wet and cold earth, the fruit 
will mature slowly and will be endangered by the early frosts. 
You will secure a sufficient drainage by digging a hole three 
feet deep and five or six feet in diameter and throwing into it 
small stones, fragments of bricks or other like rubbish, to the 
depth of about eighteen inches, and filling to the surface with 
the soil. If the soil in which you propose to plant yoru' vine 
is light, no artificial drainage will be necessary. 

Dig over the ground and mix with it some well rotted ma- 
nure or bone dust to the depth of your spade. The plan of 
trenching and deep manuring is of questionable advantage. 
The roots of the vine prefer to run near the surface, but they 
will seek the rich soil wherever it may be ; and if they are 
drawn away from the surface of the ground and out of their 
natural dnection to the colder soil below, the eiFect upon the 
fruit may be unfavorable, both as to quality and quantity. 

In the ground thus prepared set your young vine from the 
nursery. First, drive down a stake to which you can tie the 
young vine, then place the roots of the vine three inches be- 
low the surface of the ground, carefully spreading the roots 
so that they will be as nearly as possible in the position in 
which they grew in the nursery. 

The beautiful operations of nature will then commence. 
The roots of the vine mil at once begin to adapt themselves 
to their new home, and their delicate fibres will firmly clasp 
the particles of the well-prepared soil ; the warm days of the 



82 GARDENING AND TLOWERS. 

early Spring will draw tlie sap up througli the whole length 
of the vine, the buds will open and exhibit their delicate tints, 
new shoots and broad green leaves will follow, and you can 
soon eat the fruit of your own labor, sitting beneath the shadow 
of your own vine. 



DESIGN'S FOE FLOWEES. 

There are many beautiful ways of arranging flowers, be- 
sides in our costly vases. For example, take a basket and knit 
like a garter pieces of different shades of moss colored worsted ; 
then dip in hot water and press them ; when dry ravel nearly 
out, only leaving an end which can. be fastened on to the 
basket with sewing silk or green glace thread and a large 
needle. A basket tastefully covered in this way looks as if 
it were made of moss, and it retains its beauty longer ; a tin 
dish should be made to fit it, and painted green ; keep it filled 
with natural flowers. I should prefer such an ornament to 
costly porcelain. Many fill such baskets with exc[uisite French 
flowers, which imitate nature perfectly. 

To form a pyramid of flowers, take three, four or five 
wooden bowls according to the size you wish for your pyra- 
mid, let them be a regular gradation in size, procure some 
round pieces of wood, like ribbon blocks, graded in size, glue 
the tallest into the centre of the largest bowl so that it will 
stand upright, and upon top of that glue the bowl next in 
size, and so on to the smallest bowl. Vaxnish the inside sev- 
eral coats ; paint the outsides green and cover with moss ; 
some have a stand made and glued to the bottom of the 
largest bowl. When filled with flowers, it is a lovely sight. 
Baskets made of tin and painted green, then covered with 
moss, make the prettiest hanguig baskets possible. Tin rings 



VARIOUS iFLOWEES FROM ONE STEM. 83 

large enough to surround, vases placed inside, and made to 
hold water, with little wires across the top and painted green, 
when filled with flowers, form the prettiest mats in the world ; 
the wires keep the flowers in place. I saw one filled with only 
small Rose-buds, blue Forget>me-nots and Geranium leaves. 
It is an improvement to cover the outside with moss. Crosses 
made in the same way are very beautiful and are appropriate 
to place on the grave of any beloved friend. lu that way 
flowers can be preserved a long time, if there is a sufficient 
supply of water to preserve them. 

There are innumerable ways of arranging flowers. The 
poorest person can afford to purchase a tin basin, and with 
a little common paste and moss, which can be found in ail 
country places, a pretty dish for flowers is soon made. 
Shells make lovely vases. The large shells sailors polish so 
exquisitely to resemble mother-of-pearl, make elegant hang- 
ing vases ; bore holes on each side and hang them with strong 
cords. 

Decorate your rooms with flowers if possible. If you have 
sick friends at home or abroad, carry them flowers ; it will 
cheer them more than you can realize -unless you too have 
been sick. 



TO PEODUCE VAEIOUS FLOWEES FEOM 
ONE STEM. 

Scoop the pith from a small twig of elder ; split it length- 
ways, and fill each of the parts with seeds that produce differ- 
ent colored flowers. Surround the seed with earth; tie the 
two bits of wood together, and plant the whole in a pot filled 
with eai'th. The stems of the different plants will thus be so 
incorporated as to exhibit to the eye only one stem, throwing 
out branches with the different flowers you have planted. By 



84 GARDENINiJ AND FLOWERS. 

choosing the seeds of plants which germinate at the same time, 
and which are nearly similar in the texture of their stems, an 
ingenious person may obtain artificial plants extremely curious. 



TO PEESEKVE EOSES TILL WINTEE. 

It is pleasant to see the Sunamer flowers in midwinter, and 
they who cannot have Roses blooming at that period within 
doors can preserve them in Summer to decorate their table in 
Winter. First select from your Rose-trees the most beautiful 
specimens as they are just ready to blossom ; tie a piece of 
fine thread around the stalk of each ; do not handle the bud, 
or the stalk ; cut it from the tree with the stalk two or three 
inches in length ; melt sealing-wax and quickly apply it to 
the end of the stalk; the wax should only be just warm 
enough to be ductile ; form a piece of paper into a cone-like 
shape, and place the Rose within it ; twist it at the ends to 
exclude the air ; put it in a box, and put the box into a 
drawer ; this is to be sure that it is air-tight. In Winter take 
it out, cut off the end of the stalk, place it in luke-warm wa- 
ter, and in two or three hours it will become fresh and fra- 
grant. If the room is very warm it will answer to put it in 
cold water. 




IllTimiiiation. 




''N a practical treatise like the present, a disser- 
tation on the antiquities and history of Illumi- 
nation will not be looked for ; nor is there space 
for the amount of detail that would be neces- 
sary to make the subject thoroughly understood. 
The more knowledge, however, the student has 
to work upon, the purer and more complete 
must be his practice ; knowledge gives decision, 
decision leads to facility, and facility in any 
art whatever, is the main object of pursuit. 
For such knowledge, full, clear and accurate as it should 
be, we must refer to long and learned treatises ; and to the 
inspection of many actual examples; since to understand 
clearly what is meant by illumination, one should not only 
read much, but study the work itself at every stage of its 
career. To look into this matter thoroughly, reference should 
be made to books upon illumination. Among the best of 
these books are " The Art of Illumination," by Wyatt, and 
" Noel Humphrey's Work." However, a few directions may 
be given here. To begin with the materials. 



86 



ILLUMINATION. 



MATERIALS. 

■ A CAREFUL insiDGction of the list of water colors manufac-. 
tured at the present day, leads to the conclusion that the fol- 
lowing colors may be used, though some of them are similar 
to others in tint, &c., or can for other reasons be superseded. 
These latter are marked in italics : 



YELLOWS. 

Cadmium Yellow. 
Gamboge. 
Lemon Yellow. 
Mars Yellow. 
Naples Yellow. 
Raw Sienna. 
Yellow Ochre. 

REDS. 
Brown Madder. 
Carmine. 
Crimson Lake. 
Indian Ited. 
Orange Vermilion. 
Light Red. 
Scarlet Vermilion. 
Eose Madder. 
Rubens' Madder. 
Vermilion. 

BLUES. 
Cobalt. 
Prench Blue. 
Intense Blue. 
Indigo. 
Smalt. 
Ultramarine Ash. 



ORANGES. 
Burnt Roman Ochre. 
Burnt Sienna. 
Mars Orange. 
Neutral Orange. 

PURPLES. 
Burnt Carmine. 
Indian Purple. 

Purple Lake. 
Purple Madder. 

Violet Carmine. 

GREENS. 
Emerald Green. 
Oxide of Chromium. 
Olive Green. ^ 

BROWNS. 
Burnt Uviber. 
Sepia. 
Vandyke Brown. 

BLACKS. 
Ivory Black. 
Lamp-black. 

WHITE. 
Chinese White. 



The selected colors should be apportioned into five lists, as 
follows, viz : 

First List. — Gamboge, cadmium yellow, crimson lake,, 



MATERIALS. 87 

vermilion, cobalt, Frencli blue, emerald green, lamp-black, 
Chinese white. 

Second List. — Lemon yellow, gamboge, cadmium yellow, 
rose madder, crimson lake, vermilion, cobalt, French blue, 
burnt sienna, emerald green, Vandyke brown, lamp-black, 
Chinese white. 

Third List. — Lemon yellow, gamboge, cadmium yellow, 
rose madder, crimson lake, carmine, orange vermilion, ver- 
milion, cobalt, French blue, burnt sienna, brown madder, em- 
erald green, green oxide of chromium, vandyke brown, lamp- 
black, Chinese white. 

Fourth List. — Lemon yellow, gamboge, cadmium yellow, 
mars yellow, rose madder, crimson lake, carmine, orange 
vermilion, vermilion, Indian red, brown madder, cobalt, French 
blue, neutral orange, burnt sienna, burnt carmine, Indian pur- 
ple, emerald green, green oxide of chromium, vandyke brown, 
lamp-black, Chinese white. 

Fifth List. — ^Lemon yellow, gamboge, Naples yellow, 
cadmium yellow, mars yellow, rose madder, Rubens' madder, 
crimson lake, carmine, orange vermilion, vermilion, Indian 
red, cobalt, French blue, smalt, mars orange, burnt sienna, 
purple madder, burnt carmine, Indian purple, emerald green, 
green oxide of chromium vandyke browii, lamp-black, Chi- 
nese white. 

These five lists will be found to be carefully selected, and 
to contain the colors best adapted for illumination. 

There is not space in this book to enter into the peculiari- 
ties and properties of these colors, which are fully discussed 
in several works and treatises. The colors here recommended 
are permanent in character, but chrome yellows, red lead and 
pure scarlet it is best to avoid, as they are not lasting. Pure 
scarlet is fugitive and the others in time turn, black. " Win- 
sor and Newton's moist water colors " are the best for all 
illuminating purposes. 



ILLUMINATION. 



Good Bristol board with a fine firm grain, and having an 
ivory-like surface, hut without gloss, is the best material for 
illuminating upon. 



BEUSHES. 



Few brushes are required for illumination, but from the 
peculiar character of the work, and the nature of the colors, 
&c., employed, it is requisite that the right kinds should be 
carefully selected. For general use, the red sable brushes in 
goose, duck and crow quills should be employed; say one 
goose, (for large grounds,) two duck (for ordinary work,) 
and three crow (for fine linings on initials, &c.) The red 
sable is preferable to the brown sable, or other hair, as being 
stronger and firmer at the point. An ordinary flat camel's 
hair brush will suffice for damping the back of' gold paper, 
washing over weak solutions of gum water or ox-gall, &c., &c. 

When gold leaf is used, a soft camel's hair brush (of swan 
quill size,) may be found useful for touching, smoothing, &c. 
For laying down the gold leaf, a very thin, flat brush is re- 
quired, called a gilder's tip. 

Burnishers are made of agate, and the following metallic 
preparations are found useful in illuminating, viz : gold paper, 
shell gold, saucer gold, shell silver, saucer silver, shell alu- 
minum, shell platina. Silver inevitably blackens. Aluminum 
is preferable to silver. 

Besides colors, materials to work upon, pens, brushes, bur- 
nisher, tracer, and metallic preparations, there will be required 
an eraser, compass, rule, pencil, India rubber, sponge, cotton 
wood, some tracing paper and other small sundries. A bottle 
of gum water will be necessary, and also one of liquid ox- 
gall. A little of the former, mingled with water, is used to 
impart brilliancy to colors. 



COLOEING. 89 

COLORING. 

Under the head of materials, are given colors recommended 
for illumination. Besides the colors in that list, several oth- 
ers are requisite, that are only to be obtained by mixing on 
the palette. These broken hues are employed in back- 
grounds, and as shading for the more brilliant colors and tints 
on the ornamentation. 

There is only space in this book for a few practical direc- 
tions for laying on such colors as are named. 

First, then, everything connected with the painting should be 
scrupulously clean and free from dust. Distilled water should 
be used, or at least soft water that is perfectly clear. A very 
little gum water, in some cases, should be added to the color as 
it is mixed. The sable pencils should be in readiness, two or 
three, or more, according to the work and habits of the operator. 

Perhaps this is the best place to mention the manner of 
using the Chinese white. On being taken from the bottle, it 
is found to be exceedingly viscid, and troublesome to work, 
clogging the point of the pencil. Of course it should be di- 
luted with pure water, but as this renders it too thin for the 
firm and fine lines and dots so often wanted, it must be left 
a few moments to evaporate and thicken; if still viscid, it 
should be thinned again and left. White thus put out of the 
tube and thinned, will be found to be even better for working 
a day or two afterwards than at first. All that is required, 
as it will be dry, is to dip the pencil in water before working 
it upon the white, and make a good point before transferring 
it to the illumination. Unless these precautions be observed, 
the use of white will be attended with continual vexation. 

When a compound color is required, sufficient for the work 
in hand should be mixed up at one time, lest, more being re- 
quired, the second tint differ from the first, when a disagreea- 
ble patchy appearance will ensue. 



90 ILLUMINATION. 

Compound tints should be kept extremely clean in tone, 
muddy or dirty tints being fatal to that exquisite purity of 
colors for which, illumination is so famed. It is a great mis- 
take to suppose that dark tints are necessarily somewhat dirty ; 
on the contrary, they can be kept as clean and clear in tone 
as the most vivid combinations. 

The following is a list of colors and mixed tints, stated 
without technical phraseology, as far as possible : 

TaU^ xxf B(x\(xts and Wilx^d Tints* 

YELLOWS. 

Vivid high-toned yellow or primrose. — Lemon yellow, yel- 
low and white, gamboge and white. 

bright' transparent yellow. — Gamboge. 

Sich glowing yellow. — Cadmium yellow. 

Clear transparent yellow. — Mars yellow, lemon yellow and 
cadmium yellow, lemon yellow and gamboge and mars yellow. 

Rich hrown yellow. — Cadmium yellow and little purple 
madder, cadmium yellow and little Indian red. 

Buff yellow. — Cadmium and touch of burnt .carmine, or- 
ange and little white. 

REDS. 

Vivid high-toned red. — Orange vermilion. 

Deep opaque red. — Vermilion. 

Bright transparent pinh. — Rose madder, rose madder and 
touch of carmine. 

Opaque pink. — White and little orange vermihon, white 
and little vermilion, white and little Indian red, white and 
touch of carmine, white and little rose madder. 

Rich glowing crimson. — Crimson, lake, carmine. 

Chocolate red. — Vandyke brown and carmine, Vandyke 
brown and crimson lake, burnt carmine and orange vermilion. 

Russet red. — Carmine and Indian red. 



TABLE OF COLORS AND MIXED TINTS. 91 

BLUES. 

Bright azure blue. — Cobalt, cobalt and white. 
Hich strong hlue. — French blue. 
Deep dense Hue. — French blue and little black. 
Srilliant purple Wife.— Smalt. 

ORANGES. 

Clear pure yellow orange. — Mars orange, neutral orange. 

Deeper yelloio orange. — Burnt sienna. 

Intensely hrilliant transparent red orange. — Carmine over 
a ground of gamboge. 

Rich glowing toarm orange. — Cadmium yellow and ear- 
mine, cadmium yellow and orange vermilion, orange vermilion 
and little lemon yellow. 

PURPLES. 

Rich cold purple, (violet, lavender, Sfc.) — Indian purple, 
Indian purple and French blue, cobalt and little rose madder, 
cobalt and little crimson lake, cobalt and little purple madder, 
French blue, white and little rose madder, French blue and 
little crimson lake, French blue and little burnt carmine. 

Rich ivarm purple, (pure maroon, S)'c.) — Purple madder, 
burnt carmine, crimson lake and little French blue, French 
blue and carmine, rose madder and little French blae, rose 
madder and little cobalt, crimson lake and cobalt, burnt car- 
mine and little French blue. White may be added with any of 
these. 

Gj-eyish lilac, — Cobalt and brown madder. 

GREENS. 

Vivid high-toned green. — Emerald green, emerald green 
and lemon yellow. 

Bright apple green. — Emerald green and little oxide of 
chromium, emerald green little oxide of chromium and little 
lemon yellow, lemon yellow and little cobalt. 

High-toned transparent green. — Gamboge and little cobalt, 



92 ILLUMINATION. 

cadmium and little cobalt, gamboge and little Frencb blue, 
cadmium and little French blue. 

Low-toned transparent green. — Cadmium yellow, French 
blue and very little crimson lake, lemon yellow, cobalt and 
very little rose madder, cobalt and little gamboge and little 
cadmium yellow, French blue and little gamboge, French blue 
and little cadmium. 

Light opaque green. — Oxide of chromium and white 

Deep opaque green. — Oxide of chromium. 

BKOWNS. 

Pure hrown. — Vandyke brown. 

Mich warm hroivn. — Vandyke brown and little burnt car- 
mine or crimson lake, purple madder and touch of cadmium 
yellow, Vandyke brown and brown madder. 

Cold hrown. — Vandyke brown and Indian purple. 
Yellow hrown. — Indian red and little cadmium. 

Stone drah. — Vandyke brown and white, yellow ochre and 
white. 

BLACK. 

Dense hlach. — Lamp-black. 

WHITE. 

Pure white — Chinese white. 

GREYS AND NEUTRALS. 

Grey. — Black and white. 

Purple grey. — Black and white and little cobalt. 

Slate grey. — Black and white and little crimson lake, black 
and white and Indian red and cobalt. 

Silvery grey. — Black and white and rose madder. 

Clear warm neutrals for shading. — Orange vermilion and 
cobalt in various proportions. Various proportions of colors 
may be tried, particularly for the greys, neutrals, and quiet 
compounds, and the most pleasing and suitable should be care- 
fully noted for use. 



STUDIES : HOW TO COPY. 93 

Scientific formulas are not to be condemned, but in the pres- 
ent state of the science of color, it is rash to say what is, and 
what is not right, by law. In dehcate harmonies, considera- 
ble license must be allowed to what is called taste. 

Whatever the numerical formulas may do in preventing us 
from utterly disgusting ourselves, excellence in coloring can 
only be attained by careful study of beautiful examples, 

Reynolds' maxim, of constant copying was practiced ages 
before by the Italian masters ; and it is so still, as the hun- 
dreds and thousands of studies left by deceased artists testify. 

Twenty good color studies, patiently copied, are worth all 
the numerical formulas in the world. Nevertheless, to those 
who are timid or inexperienced in judgment of color, a care- 
ful study of Chevreul or Hay will not be without advantage, 
and though it will not create the power to color harmoniously, 
it will aid in its development. 

If any one should attempt to copy a manuscript of the 
fourteenth century or thereabouts, first cut the proper kind of 
Bristol board the size the page is to be, and prepare it by rub- 
bing with pomice. Then, having sketched it out upon a board, 
rule very lightly the lines for the margin, type and initial let- 
ter. If the border be open, that is, upon a white ground, as 
most of this period were, the outer marginal line will have to 
be erased, so that it had better only be ruled in pencil. Next 
the type must be printed according to the date, sketching the 
capitals, which you will finish afterwards.* The next thing to 
be done is to copy the large initial letter, which must be done 
with great care, testing its accuracy by tracing. If there is 
to be any picture, then that must be next sketched. Your 
outline cannot be too delicate. Last of all you will copy the 
border, and that in the following way : fix your eye upon 
some prominent portion of the border in the copy, and hav- 
ing ascertained its exact position and dimensions, proceed to 
mark it out upon the surface of your Bristol board. Meas- 



94 ILLUMINATION. 

lire again the distance from this to the next most prominent 
feature, and so on in like manner until you have all the most 
important parts fixed in their proper places. 

Now advance to the subordinate ornamental detail and 
gradually fill that in, dividing your work into small portions 
and taking the greatest care to have all correct. Do not rest 
till you have a literal fac-simile of the original. 

Now proceed to color ; but first mix a little liquid ox-gall 
with your colors, which will enable you to paint with ease and 
certainty. The initial letter can be first finished, using the ap- 
propriate colors. Next begin to color the border, applying 
one tint wherever it is wanted all through it, then finishing 
the next, and so on until you have all the colors laid on their 
proper places. These you will proceed to shade and ornament 
in solid Chinese white or gold; any little figures also or 
grotesques should now be completed, including of course the 
terminal line, generally of gold and color, which encloses the 
type. When all these are finished and really accurate, both 
in shape and color, if there be a picture, that comes next in 
order ; if not, you will put in any dots of color or flat gold 
which may happen to adorn the background. This will con- 
clude the operation of copying, and any marks or spots which 
have occurred in the course of your drawing can now be 
erased with bread. 



DESIGN. 



If you have any enthusiasm for this art, and have studied 
manuscript of the best period of illumination, as has been ad^ 
vised, you will not be content simply to copy the designs of 
others, but will desire yourself to try and compose them. Is 



DESIGINT. 95 

it not our duty to try and develop to the extent of our power, 
any art we cherish ? Therefore let us consider the subject of 
design and try to foi-m some rules for our future gtiidance. 

The first thing necessary to do, is to fix upon some existing 
style of illumination to serve as a basis for any intended de- 
velopments. Of course this style must naturally be the best 
and purest, and that is, as I have often said before, and as I 
firmly believe, that which prevailed from the middle of the 
thirteenth to the end of the fourteenth century. But you will | 

ask of what nature ornament is to be, and this leads to a rule, 
that ornamentation must consist of conventionalized repre- 
sentation of natural objects. All true beauty consists in the 
representation of, or is derived from, natural objects. To 
this rule there is no exception. But nature may be repre- 
sented in two ways, either by realizmg her, as far as our 
means will possibly allow, or by conventionalism. In realism, 
we endeavor to obtain a literal copy of the object to be repre- 
sented and set no bounds to our pursuit of this. 

In conventionalism, we beforehand arrange certain limits at 
which to stop, and then get as much of nature as we can within 
those limits. 

Now in conventionalism it is to a great extent optional how 
far you will realize your flowers or leaves. You may do it 
more or less as you feel the occasion requires. ' 

The principle appears to be to seize upon the leading char- 
acteristics of the flower or form you wish to represent, and 
then to add as much of the rest as you can consistently with 
your subject. Thus, you may either represent a rose as an 
arrangement of five leaves of a certain shape and color round 
a yellow or gold central spot — as was the general mediaeval 
type — or you may go somewhat nearer the reality and add a 
few more petals, &c., so as to bring it to a closer resemblance. 
You must arrange this with yourself, but as a rule observe 
that the more you realize any flower the more you must pro- 



96 



ILLUMI]!^ATIOIir. 



portionably increase the quantity of conventional ornament 
around it, so as to make it evident that you had voluntarily 
set yourself limits which you did not choose to pass. While 
I am on this subject, I will take the opportunity to advise you 
to make great use of leaves in your designs. Wonderful and 
perfect as all nature's work is, yet it seems as if the stamp of 
perfection and divine beauty were more strongly impressed on 
leaves than on any other of her productions. The thousand 
changing forms of beauty with which she clothes the woods, 
the banks, and the very ground we tread on, ought to be to 
all, but especially to lovers of beauty and truth, objects of 
the purest joy and delight. Make very frequent use of them 
in designing, for they ever have been and ever will be sources 
of tho best and most heavenly beauty. Eemember always 
that in painting them it is far more important to have the 
form and outline quite right and true, than to imitate or ap- 
proach their color, which may be left arbitrary. Remember 
also that their power will be better felt by a somewhat sparing 
use of them, I mean as regards not over-crowding your page, 
so that though you may employ many leaves, you will have 
but few of each. 

The last rule of design is, that there should le a general 
purpose and meaning running throughout the ornamental de- 
tail. You should endeavor to carry out some idea in each 
border, and to this end should reflect well, first what idea you 
wish to give, next how, and by what means you may best con- 
vey it. I will not say that your meaning will at once be plain 
to every one, nor indeed is it likely to be so to more than a 
few, but still the working with a deliberate idea in your mind 
will give a unity and completeness to your design, which will 
be entirely wanting to one worked out at random, or with a 
view only to prettiness — the most noxious idea it is possible to 
conceive, and the rock upon which nearly all modern illumina- 
tors make shipwreck. Accustom yourself to ask not, " is this 



DESIGN. 



97 



pretty?" but, "is it right? ^^ and this habit will, I think, 
be a safeguard to you. 

The principles of design as applied to this art, have now 
been considered. There are, it is true, many other points on 
which I could speak, but as my space will not allow it, I have 
chosen those which are the most important, and against which 
there is to beginaers the greatest temptation to err. Care^ 
ftil study of the best manuscript you have an opportunity of 
seeing, must be your guide on other points. But as an en- 
couragement let me tell you, that if you have any talent for 
design, and will take the tK)uble diligently to think over the 
directions here given and try them by such fourteenth century 
examples as may fall in your way, I do not think that you 
can go wrong in any material point. Difference of opinion 
and taste there must always be, but as long as we grasp the 
truth and resolutely cling to our landmarks, our steps cannot 
go far astray. 

These foregoing directions were prepared for this work by 
a lady who excels in the art of illumination. 




oiise and Home 




'ECALCOMANIE will be appreciated and 
enjoyed by any one who takes pleasure ia 
['making tasteful articles for gifts, or for con- 
tributions to fairs, or in adding new graces to 
tbe parlor. It consists in ornamentiag vases 
and boxes witb oil paintings. The process 
saves a great deal of labor, and wben the 
work is well done, very close examination is 
necessary to detect the difference between 
hand paintings and the Decalcomanie, partic- 
ularly if the pictures are retouched, or tiny sprays of moss, 
small leaves, or flowers are added in water colors. The designs 
can be transferred to wood, porcelain, leather, silk, glass, 
metal, paper, etc. 

The designs are printed in oil colors, on the surface of pa- 
per, which has been p^viously prepared with a composition 
easily soluble in water, — or in fact the printing is entirely on 
this composition, the paper merely serving as a back to give 
support to the thin film on which the design is printed. By 
a process hereafter described, these beautiful designs in oil 



DECALCOMANIE. 99" 

colors may be perfectly transferred to the surface of any arti- 
cle which it is desirable to ornament, such as vases, card-cases, 
porte-monnaies, work-boxes, needle-books, toilet-cushions, lamp- 
shades, and hundreds of other things too numerous to men- 
tion ; and when nicely executed, the work equals the finest 
painting. Beautiful bouquets may in this way, be transferred 
to silk for toilet-cushions and perfume sachets. 

When applied to china, porcelain or other similar sub- 
stances, it may be freely washed with warm water without in- 
jury, and is in every respect as durable as oil painting. 



The necessary materials are as follows : cementing varnish, 
fTotecting varnish, two or three cameVs hair brushes of vari- 
ous sizes, (these should be of fine quality, as the cheaper ones 
never have good points) , a glass of clear water, a small vial 
of benzine or burning fluid for cleaning the varnish brushes ; 
and be careful and procure suitably prepared pictures. 



First, with a fine brush, apply the cementing varnish to 
every part of the picture, following the outline neatly without 
running over on the white paper. After applying the var- 
nish let it dry a minute, then, holding the picture to the 
light, take a larger brush and dampen the back with water, 
being careful to wet the size of the design only. Before the 
picture has time to expand much, apply the picture to the 
article to be ornamented, firmly pressing every part ; dampen 
again with water, after which remove the paper. To remove 
the paper, commence at one corner and carefully raise it, 
keeping close watch that none of the design adheres to the 



100 HOUSE AND HOME AKTS. 

paper. If a piece, however small, is seen attached to the pa- 
per, immediately replace the paper and again press that part 
to the article and perhaps dampen a little more. Having en- 
tirely removed the paper, draw a damp cloth smoothly over 
the finger and firmly press every part, using great care that 
no air bubbles remain under the large surfaces. The day 
after the transfer, carefully wash the design with cold water, 
and when perfectly dry, lightly apply the protecting varnish 
to the design. The above directions are strictly applicable to 
ornamenting only such articles as can be washed. 

In ornamenting any delicate substance, such as silk, great 
care must be observed in dampening the back, in order to 
dampen only the exact size of the design ; as, if the prepar- 
ation on the paper is dampened around the picture, it will 
soil the silk.- Of course the washing above mentioned must be 
omitted ; and oftentimes the varnishing may also be omitted to 
advantage, as its object is simply to render the painting more 
durable, where it is to be subjected to use or exposed to the 
weather. 

In order to avoid soiling delicate substances, some persons 
have adopted the following expedients : — After applying the 
cementing varnish to the picture, and before dampening the 
back, take the water brush, and thoroughly wet the faCe of 
the paper ail around the design. This will soften the prepar- 
ation, which may be removed by carefully touching the surface 
with a wet cloth. The cloth, being wet, will not stick to the 
varnish if it comes in contact with it. After this operation, 
the process is the same as before described, except that some 
of the fine parts near the edge may require retouching with 
the cementing varnish. 

For ornamenting any dark substances, such as black silk or 
a rosewood box, the picture is differently prepared. After the 
picture has been printed in all its colors, the whole design is 
entirely covered with gold leaf or a preparation of white lead, 



ENGEAVED BOXES. 101 

■which is merely to give the picture its proper effect, by pre- 
ventiDg the dark surface from showing tlirough, which it 
would do at eveiy light part were it not for this backing. 
But if it is desirable to use some pictures not backed on a 
dark ground, it may be done by covering the design with a 
preparation of fine white lead, called white grounding. The 
gi'ounding must be allowed to dry, and then the process is the 
same as before. In applying your pictures to any article, 
face the light, and, holding the picture before you, the design 
ca;n be seen from the back, and thus correctly placed in 
position. 



ENGEAVED BOXES. 



The box should be white or light straw-color in order to 
show the faint impression to advantage. It should be var- 
nished five or six times in succession, and suffered to dry 
thoroughly each time. . While the last coat of varnish is yet 
so fresh that your finger will adhere to it, the engraving must 
be put on, the picture side next to the varnish. The engrav- 
ing must be prepared in the following manner : — All the 
white paper must be cut off close to the edges of the engraving, 
which must be laid on a clean table, with the picture down- 
ward, and moistened all over with a clean sponge. It must 
then be placed between two leaves of blotting paper, to dry 
it a little. Before putting it on the box, take great care to have 
it even, and determine exactly where you wish it to be. Lay 
one edge of the print, picture downward, upon the varnish, 
and gradually drop it to its place, passing the hand success- 
ively over the back of the print in such a manner as to drive 
out all the air, and prevent the formation of blisters. Then 
carefully touch it all over with a linen cloth, so as to be sure 



102 HOUSE AND HOME ARTS. 

eveiy part adheres to the varnish. Leave it until it is thor- 
oughly dry. Then moisten the back of the engraving with a 
clean sponge, and rub it lightly backward and forward with 
the fingers, so as to remove the moistened paper in small 
roils. When the picture begins to appear, take great care 
lest you rub through, and take off some of the impression. 
As soon as you perceive there is danger of this, leave it to 
dry. In drying, the engraving will disappear, because it is 
still covered by a slight film of paper. You might think it 
mere white paper ; but give it a coat of varnish, and it will 
become quite transparent. Should you by accident have 
removed any part of the engraving, touch it with India ink, 
and gum water, in order that no white spots may appear ; but 
when you put on your second coat of varnish you must take 
care to pass' very lightly over the spots you have retouched. 
The box should be varnished as many as three times after the 
engraving has been placed on it, and suffered to dry thor- 
oughly each time. The white alcoholic varnish is the best. 
It should be put on in the sunshine, or near a warm stove. 
Alter the last coat is well dried, sift a little pulverized rotten 
stone thi'ough coarse muslin, and rub it on with linseed oil 
and a soft rag ; after being well nibbed, cleanse the bos thor- 
oughly with an old silk handkerchief or soft linen rag. Some 
persons say that a very thin sizing of nice glue should be put 
on the bos before it is varnished at all ; others say it is not 
necessary. This work requires great patience and care ; but 
the effect is very beautiful, and pays for the trouble. 



COEAL FLOWERS AND BASKETS. 

Form baskets, flowers, and sjorays of all shapes and kinds, 
of bonnet-wire already wound with thread. Then take one 
ounce of resin and dissolve it in a brass pan with two drachma 



INLAID IVORY: ALUM BASKETS. 103 

of the finest vermilion, and thoronglily mix tliem ; then take 
your basket, twigs, &c., and dip them into the solution till 
they are well' dyed. Some persons dissolve red sealing-wax 
in alcohol, and form coral, powder the "wax, and fill in as 
much as the alcohol will dissolve. 



IMITATION OF INLAID IVORY. 

Have your fancy table, work-box, &c., made of smooth 
polished white wood, such as satin wood or maple ; sketch 
upon it such figures as castles, men, women, wreaths of 
flowers, &c., as you fancy; then color all, except the figures 
you have drawn, with dead black. It then, if neatly and 
tastefully finished, looks like ebony inlaid with ivory. 



ALUM BASKETS. 

Success in these baskets depends somewhat upon chance ; 
for the crystals will sometimes form irregularly, even when 
the utmost care is taken. Dissolve alum in a little more than 
twice as much water as will be necessary to cover the basket, 
handle and all. Put in as much alum as the water will dis- 
solve. The water should be hot. When the water is entirely 
saturated, pour it into a sauce-pan or earthen jar, (by no 
means put it into an iron vessel) , and slowly boil it, until it is 
nearly evaporated. The basket should then be suspended 
from a little stick, laid across the,_ top of the jar, in such a 
manner that both basket and handle will be covered by the 
solution. It must be set away in a cool place, where not 
the slightest motion will disturb the formation of the crystals. 

The frame may be made in any shape you fancy. It is 



104 HOUSE AND HOME ARTS. 

usually made of small wire, woven in and out like basket- 
work ; but a common willow basket may be used for a frame. 
"Wliether it be wire or willow, a rough surface must be pro- 
duced by winding every part with thread or worsted. Bon- 
net-wire already covered can be used, and the trouble of 
winding the basket avoided. Bright yellow crystals may be 
produced by boiling gamboge, saffiron or tumeric in the alum 
solution. Litinus boiled in will give bright red crystals ; log- 
wood will form purple. The colors will be more or less deep 
according to the quantity used. Splendid blue crystals may 
be obtained by preparing the sulphate of copper, commonly 
called blue vitriol, in the same manner as alum is prepared. 
Care must be taken not to drop it on your clothes. 



PAINTING ON GLASS. 

Some of the works which profess to teach the art of paint- 
ing on glass contain directions for staining large windows in 
churches and halls ; others -merely give the process of pro- 
ducing the more common paintings, such as are carried about 
the streets for sale. These seem to have been much in vogue 
about a century since, as all the "Young Artist's Assistants " 
of that day contain the mode of painting them. They direct 
us to fix a mezzotinto print upon the back of a sheet of 
glass, and to remove the paper by wetting and rubbing, leav- 
ing the impression of the print, which is afterwards to be 
painted in broad washes; the ink of the print giving the 
shadows. The picture being then turned over, the glazed 
side becomes the front, and the colors first laid on are, of 
course, nearest the eye. This mode of painting resembles 
the style of Grecian painting, that being painted from the 
back, and the shading is the ink of the engraving. 



PAINTING ON GLASS. 105 

The methods by which glass is stained are scientific ; they 
require some knowledge of chemistry, and such apparatus as 
must preclude the practice of this branch of art as an amuse- 
ment. It may be interesting, however, to know something 
of the process. The glass being, at first, colorless, a draw- 
ing is made upon it, and the painting is laid on with mineral 
substances, the vehicle being a volatile oil, which soon evap- 
orates. The sheets of glass are then exposed to a powerful 
heat, until they are so far melted that they receive the colors 
into their own substances. Enamel painting is done on the 
same principle. This is a time of great anxiety to the 
artist, as with all possible care, valuable paintings, both in 
glass and enamel, are frequently spoUed in the proving, or 
vitrification. The art seems to have been lost during several 
centuries, but it has of late been successfully revived ; and 
large windows have been executed for churches and gothic 
halls, which almost vie with the fine old specimens in the 
cathedrals, in point of color, while they far excel them in 
other respects. 

The branch of the art which may be treated as an accom- 
plishment is the decoration of glass, flower-stands, lamp- 
shades, and similar articles, with light and elegant designs. 
Flowers, bii'ds, butterflies and pleasing landscapes, afibrd an 
extensive range of subjects, which ai'e suitable to this style of 
ornamental painting. The glasses may be procured ready 
ground. The outline may be sketched in with a black lead 
pencil ; the lead can be washed off with a sponge when the 
colors are dry. The whole of the colors employed must be 
transparent, and gTOund in oil ; opaque, or body colors, will 
not answer the purpose. 

They may be purchased in small bladders, only requiring 
to be tempered with fine copal or mastic varnish, and a very 
little nut oil, to be ready for use. Blue is produced by Prus- 
sian blue ; red, by scarlet or crimson lake ; yellow, by yellow 
5* 



106 HOUSE AND HOME ARTS. 

lake or gamboge ; green, by verdigris, or mineral green, or a 
mixture of Prussian blue and gamboge ; purple, by a mix- 
ture of lake and Prussian blue; reddish brown, by burnt 
sienna ; and all the other tints may be obtained by combina- 
tions ; for white, or such parts as are required to be transpar- 
ent, without color, the varnish only should be employed. A 
very chaste and pleasing effect may be produced by painting 
the whole design in varnish, without color. 

It is an advantage to this style of painting, that but few 
colors are required ; as from the nature of the subjects, and 
their purpose as ornaments, brilliancy is more desirable than 
a nice gradation of tints. The work must, of course, be care- 
fully dried, but may afterwards be cleaned with a sponge 
and cold water. 



PAINTING ON VELVET. 

Painting on velvet as well as on glass is an old art revived. 
No art that is really beautiful in itself will pass away entirely. 
As these paintings are very pleasing to the eye, and easy of 
execution, it is well to know how to paint them. The follow- 
ing directions are taken from a reliable English work. 

The colors for this style of painting are sold at the drawing 
material warehouses, in a liquid state and prepared for use. 
In addition to these, a brilliant rose color is obtained from the 
pink saucers, by dropping a little weak gum water upon the 
color, and rubbing it with a brush. A deep yellow may also 
be produced by pouring a few drops of boiling water upon a 
small quantity of hay saffron. 

It is necessary to mix gum water with all the colors made, 
to prevent their spreading into each other ; gum dragon is the 



PAINTING ON VELVET. 107 

best for this purpose. The brushes used are called scrubs ; 
they consist of a small stick, with a camel's hair brush cut off 
quite short at one end, and at the other, a brush of bristles 
of a much harder description, A small box of black lead is 
necessary, and a piece of list rolled tightly round, to the di- 
ameter of about two inches, to be used as a sort of brush with 
the black lead, for making outlines in the manner we shall 
presently du'ect. A piece of linen rag, to wipe the brushes 
on, should also be provided. 

■ The most brilliant flowers, fruits, shells, birds, &e., are 
well adapted to this style of painting. The outline of the 
subject may be sketched in pencil on the velvet, which is of 
such a very delicate natui-e, that the greatest nicety is neces- 
sary to keep it in a state of neatness. Care should also be 
taken that the sketch is correctly made, as an error cannot be 
effaced by rubbing out, as on paper. It is a safer method, 
however, to make the sketch on drawing-paper, and to prick 
the outline very closely with a fine needle ; then, the velvet 
being previously nailed on a flat piece of wood of a proper 
size, the pricked pattern may be laid over it, the roll of list 
dipped into the black lead powder, and rubbed regtilarly over 
the pattern from side to side ; be careful to touch every part, 
and on removing the pattern, a perfect outline in black dots 
will appear on the velvet. 

Where a set of articles of the same pattern is undertaken, 
this is a very good plan, as it ensures accuracy, and saves the 
trouble of making separate sketches. 

Even those who have no knowledge of drawing on paper 
may produce a design on velvet, with ease and correctness, 
by tracing off against a window, or by means of tracing pa- 
per, any drawing or print which they wish to copy, and prick- 
ing the tracing on the velvet in the manner just described. 
In order to keep the margin of the velvet from being soiled 
in the progress of painting, a piece of thick paper should be 



108 



HOUSE AND HOME ARTS. 



laid over the whole, and an aperture cut in the middle, suffi- 
ciently large to expose the part to be worked on. Each brush 
should be kept for that color alone to which it has once been 
appropriated. 

A small quantity of the color about to be used should be 
poured into a Httle cup, and a drop of gum water added, and 
stirred with the stick of a pencil prior to its being taken on 
the brush. The mode of its application is so sunple, that a 
short description of the execution of a single flower will suf- 
fice to give an idea of the process of painting almost any other 
subject on velvet. A very small portion of color is to be 
taken upon the brush, and the darkest part of the leaf touched 
with it ; the brush is then to be dipped in water, and the 
color gradually softened to the edge ; each leaf ought to be 
colored separately, and the darkest parts in the centre of the 
flowers may be finished with a small brush without softening. 
India ink is used to make the dark shadows of crimson flow- 
ers. The veins, and all the petals of flowers, and all the 
fine lines, should be done with a pen. Each leaf, as it is 
shadowed, should be brushed with the hard end of a brush, 
that way of the velvet in which the pile runs most easily, and 
then in the contrary direction, so as to set it up again to be- 
come dry. A deeper shade should never be added to a leaf 
or flower until the color previously laid on is perfectly set, or 
the two colors will spread and run into each other, this will be 
prevented by the gum, if sufficient time can be allowed for 
each shade to dry before a subsequent one is appHed. 

When the piece is finished, and quite dry, it should be 
brushed over with a small, round brush, about two inches in 
diameter, with hard bristles of an equal length,, to raise up 
such parts of the pile as may have been flattened in the pro- 
cess of painting. 

Toilet-sets, sofa-cushions, fancy tables, pin-cushions, and a 
variety of articles may be ornamented in this way. 



CASTING IN PLASTER, SULPHUR, ETC. 109 



CASTING IN PLASTEE, SULPHUE, Etc. 

Taking the impression of coins, medals, &c., is, indepen- 
dently of its utility, a most interesting amusement. This art 
is of considerable importance to collectors of antique coins, 
&c. It is often difficult, and always expensive, to purchase 
superior specimens, of which, however, exact models may be 
obtained by casting, without the slightest injury to the orig- 
inals. ' The mould is made in the following manner : — Take 
a strip of paper, a quarter or third of an inch wide ; roll it 
twice tight around the rim of the coin, or gem, of which a 
cast is intended to be taken, and fasten the end with very 
stiff gum-water, which will hold it instantly. Rub a very 
little oil, with a camels-hair pencil, over the coin^ in order to 
prevent the plaster from sticking ; then mix some fine plaster 
of Paris, with as much water as will make it almost as thick 
as treacle ; apply it quickly to the coin, on which it will be 
held by the paper rim. It sets almost instantly, and may be 
taken off in a few hours ; but the longer it remains undisturbed 
the better. The mould which is thus obtained is the reverse 
of the coin ; that is, the impression is concave, like a seal. 
When the moulds are so dry that they will not wrinkle a 
piece of paper laid flat upon the surface, let them be well sat- 
urated with the best boiled linseed oU, placing the moulds 
with their surface upward, that the whole of the oil may be 
absorbed. They must be covered from dust, and nothing 
should touch their surface, lest they suffer injury. Moulds, 
well prepared in this manner, and dried about two days 
after being oiled, will stand a long time, for the casting of 
either plaster or sulphur. When used, either Florence oil or 
a little hog's lard (the latter to be preferred) should be ap- 
plied very tenderly over the mould with a little of the finest 



110 ^ HOUSE AND HOME AETS. 

cotton wool, and the cotton wool, without lard, afterwards 
passed lightly over the surface, to leave as little as possible 
of the unctuous matter upon the mould, that the casts may be 
the finer. Put paper around them, as was before done to the 
coin ; pour on plaster in the same manner, and a fac-simile 
of the original will be produced. 

Good casts may be made of sulphur, melted in an iron 
ladle, either pure, or colored with a little red lead or vermU- 
ion powdered and stirred up with it. The moulds and casts 
are made in the same manner as with plaster of Paris, only 
that the sulphur must be poured on the mould when hot, and 
water, instead of oil, must be used, to prevent adhesion. 
Sulphur makes the best moulds for plaster casts, and vice 
versa — as similar substances can seldom be prevented, by 
either water or oil, from adhering, in some degree, to each 
other. Plaster cannot be used twice ; that is, old or spoiled 
casts cannot be powdered and again employed; for the 
moment the material is moistened, being a species of lime, it 
is no longer plaster, without being reburnt. 
"^ Another way of making casts of almost any color, is with 
a strong solution of isinglass ; it must be used when quite 
hot ; and it is so thin that a box, exactly fitting the rim of 
the coin, is required, otherwise it will escape. It may be 
colored with saffron, wood, &c. 

Very beautiful impressions may be taken by pouring melted 
wax upon the metal, which comes ofi" easily when the wax and 
metal are perfectly cold ; but any one attempting this had bet- 
ter try it first upon a penny, or other coin of little value. 

Impressions may also be taken in wax, which, for this pur- 
pose, should be rendered pliable by kneading it with the hand 
before the fire, a little oil having been previously mixed with 
it. When softened to about the consistency of putty, lay it 
and press it close down on the coin, the form of which will 
then be perfectly obtained. 



LEATHER WORK. HI 

The following is another mode of taking impressions : — 
Procure tin or lead foil, as thin as possible, place it on the 
coin, and with a pin's head, or any small, smooth instrument, 
work it into every part ; then take it oiF, revert it into a shal- 
low box, and pour plaster into its concave side ; , a durably 
plaster cast is thus obtained, covered with tin foil, which will 
resemble silver. 



LEATHEE WOEK. 



"The Complete Guide to Ornamental Leather Work" 
gives very elaborate directions, the more practical of which 
are given in this chapter in connection with suggestions de- 
rived from other sources. Being quite absorbed at one time 
in imitating various kinds of flowers and loaves in leather, 
and in ornamenting and staining wood to represent beautiful 
carved work, — the writer of this examined the books on the 
subject, and tried many elaborate method-s, and finally went 
to a cabinet-maker and learned the simplest mode of staining 
and varnishing. Her leather work proved to be quite as du- 
rable, and was pronounced as handsome, as if it had been cov- 
ered with various coats of stiffening. 

The kind of leather used for general purposes is basil ; it 
should be selected of an even texture and of a light color, as 
the light colored will stain better than the dark. It should 
be soft and free from blemishes. 

The skiver leather is used for making grapes, or very small 
leaves and flowers, and can be obtained at the same place as 
the basil leather ; this kind is also useful for thin stems and 
any minute portion of the work. 

The whole skins are very expensive, and any one who wishes 
to experiment can obtain for quite a small sum pieces of 



112 HOUSE AND HOME AETS. 

leather from trunk-makers and saddlers, (who call it sheep- 
skin instead of basil ;) you can engage them to save you all 
their pieces ; in this way you can obtain all you will wish to 
use. You can also purchase strips of thicker leather at the 
same places, to ornament the edge of your brackets, &c. ; you 
can cut the edge of the leather in scollops, points, &c., with 
chisels and gouges, and nail it round the shelf or glue it on, 
the scollops, &c., hanging down; it will look exactly like 
wood when properly stained. Then nail your flowers to that. 
Pieces of skiver can also be obtained from the book-binders. 
To form your leaves and flowers, you must sketch your pat- 
tern from nature, on pasteboard^ Then dip your leather in 
cold water for half a minute (not longer, unless the leather 
is unusually thick ;) it should then be taken from the water 
and pressed in a linen cloth until the surface is nearly dry. 
Being thus prepared, lay it quite flat on a board, and place upon 
it your pasteboard pattern, and trace it. While the leather 
is wet, cut out your leaf with sharp scissors or a shoe-maker's 
knife. The pattern may be drawn before the leather is wet, 
and if sharp tools are used the leaf can be cut before wetting 
it ; and by drawing one pattern and nailing several pieces of 
leather firmly on a board, with chisels, gouges and hammer, 
you can cut a number of leaves at once, and then neatly trim 
them with the scissors. All common leaves, such as grape, 
ivy, or convolvulus, are more easily cut in this way; rose 
leaves and grape leaves are cut better with the scissors. You 
should have a variety of sizes of leaves. To vein the leaves 
you should copy nature, and mark them with a brad awl or 
knitting needle, or the point of the scissors ; press heavily for 
thick veins and lightly for the -finer veins ; by using the two 
points of your scissors slightly spread apart, you can form the 
raised veins ; a hard steel pen can be used for the smaller 
veins. Being veined, the leaves should be bent and moulded 
into the required shape. Then they should be dried quickly, 



LEATHER WORK. 113 

cs it hardens them better. Some persons stiffen them when 
dry by brushing over a stiffening made of two ounces of Aus- 
tralian red gum, sis ounces of orange sliellac, half a pint of 
spirits of wine, mixed cold, and when dissolved, strained for 
use. It is not necessary to use any .such preparation when 
your leather work is sufficiently hardened by drying ; take 
some asphaltum varnish and stain it carefully all over with a 
brush. This varnish you can buy ready mixed, or you. can 
get the asphaltum, powder it, and dissolve it in spuits of tur- 
pentine ; when well dried it will probably need a second coat, 
possibly a third, depending on the color you wish, whether 
dark or light ; when well dried, varnish the work with copal 
varnish, and dry it thoroughly. Then stain your wood (or 
you can have it stained at the cabinet-makers, as you prefer.) 
You can stain even common pine wood by the following pro- 
cess : first, stain with asphaltum the color you desire ; then 
varnish with three coats of copal varnish, having each well 
dried ; when it is dry and hard, rub it down with powdered 
pumice stone, and wash off with clear cold water. Then ar- 
range and nail, or glue, on your leather flowers or fruit. 
When all is complete, finish up with a coat of copal varnish 
carefully brushed on. 

To make stems and tendrils : cut strips as long as the 
leather will allow ; soak them well in water for a few minutes 
until they feel very soft ; take them out, wipe the water from 
the surface, roll them and dry them ; if required to be very 
Stiff, add inside a piece of wire ; when very thick ones are re- 
quired the leather may be cut wider. Tendrils are made in. 
the same manner as stems, using skiver instead of the ordi- 
nary leather ; dry them quickly, then take a strip, damp it 
and wind it round a brad awl or knitting needle, taking care 
to fasten both ends, so that it cannot fly off"; dry it by the fire, 
then remove it from the awl or needle, and a delicately formed 
tendril will be the result. 



114 HOUSE AND HOME ARTS. 

Every kind of flower can be imitated. Oak leaves and 
acorns are easily made, and many prefer them to flowers. 
Take several sizes of natural oak leaves, and draw the pattern 
on pasteboaixl, and pencil them as the natural leaf is veined. 
These you can keep always ready to copy your leather from. 
The natural acorn can be used, by leaving a little of the stem 
on the cup, on which to glue a longer stem of leather; then 
glue the acorn into the cup, and varnish and stain. If you 
can obtain sprays of acorns, and glue each acorn to its cup 
and glue on a bit of leather to the end of the stem, to nail 
to your frame, they are the most desirable. The acorns gath- 
ered from the shrub oak are the prettiest. 

Convolvulus is a vine most commonly imitated. The 
leaves and tendrils are -very simple, and the flower is easily 
shaped over the top of a bottle. First, cut a round piece the 
size of a half dollar, and punch a -hole, in the centre after 
it is wet, then shape from the natural flower ; the cup can be 
formed in the neck of the bottle, and the rest by roUing the 
edges over the rim of the top of the bottle. 

Ivy is easily made. The berries can be formed from slack 
baked bread ; take it and roll into little berries, then stick in 
each a piece of wire (that pulled from wire taste is the best, 
as it is wound with thread,) and in forming the branch wind 
the wires together with a strip of leather. When the berries 
have hardened, stain them. 

Grapes are made of skiver, and either small clay marbles 
or dry peas. First, wet your skiver, then form your bunch 
of grapes, by pushing one after another firm into the pliant 
leather, and fasten around each a linen thread, and draw 
them with it close together, shaping your bunch according to 
the size you wish. They so perfectly imitate carved wood 
that persons familiar with carving may be deceived by them. 
By the exercise of ingenuity and your imitative qualities you 
can accomplish very satisfactory results. Parts of the work 



LEATHER WORK. 



115 



may be gilded, if you prefer. For instance, you may gild 
your acorns, grapes or ivyberries. Bronzing is pretty for 
some kinds of work. It is done by sprinkling or rubbing 
bronzing powder on the work before the last coat of varnish 
is dry. 

Autumn leaves can be imitated by using finely powdered 
colors, and mixing tliem to the consistence of cream, with the 
following medium : — Mix the white of an egg with 2 oz. of 
pure distilled vinegar ; put them into a bottle and shake them 
well together whenever you wish to mix your colors ; or mix 
them with parchment size warmed, or a weak solution of gum- 
Arabic ; in either case, varnish with a quick drying pale var- 
nish. Oil colors will not answer. 

Pieces of furniture easily ornamented by leather are book 
cases, etageres, brackets, picture frames, work boxes, screens, 
music and watch stands and fancy tables, &c., &c. 

The edges of frames of all kinds may be neatly ornar 
mented by taking two strips about seven-eighths of an inch 
wide, cut them as long as possible, 
and stain them ; when ready for 
use, nail them together to the edge 
of the frame, then twist them round so 
as to form a point, and nail again, and 
so on all around, crogeing them each 
time. Brackets need to be formed 
not only artistically, but strong. I 
will give here a design for the frame- 
work, before the leather ornaments are 
nailed on. The strips of wood must 
be entirely covered with the leather foliage ; it adds to the ap- 
pearance of the whole. 

To gild the upper edge, I will also give a pretty design for 
an oak and ivy bracket. This is intended to imitate old oak, 
and should be stained very dark. The oak stem should be 




SKELETON BKACKET. 



116 



HOUSE AND HOME ARTS. 



made of very thick wire, cut in the desired lengths, and cov- 
ered with leather, and bent to re- 
semble gnarled oak, as naturally 
as possible ; fasten oak leaves and 
acorns at the back of the wires and 
on the wood-work, as shown in the 
skeleton bracket, then attach the ivy 
tendrils, leaves and berries around 
the oak stems, and the bracket is 
complete. Other and very beauti- 
ful designs will readily occur to 
persons who engage in this delight- 
DESiON jfor a bbacket. ful rccreation. 




CIGAR-BOXES MADE USEFUL. 

Beaittiful fancy boxes can be made from cigar-boxes, if 
the cover is preserved whole. Small sizes are the most 
desirable. Toilet, glove, handkerchief, gentlemen's collar, 
note paper and work-boxes, besides many other varieties, are 
easily manufactured. The materials required, most of which 
can be purchased at the paper box manufactories, are : — ^All 
kinds of fancy enamel paper, in sheets ; gold or silver paper, 
and the gold or fancy headings, which can be bought in strips ; 
small enamel Gei-man pictures ; plain or water-colored paper, or 
colored silk and satins, for the lining ; gilded corner-pieces, and 
claw-feet are an addition ; perfume powder, narrow taste, &c. 

First, you must fasten the lid firmly by pasting a strip of 
linen along the edges of the lid and box, inside, as well as out- 
side ; it holds the lid firm, and acts as a hinge ; paste on each side 
bits of ribbon to support the lid, then glue m the lining. For 



CIGAR-BOXES MADE USEFUL. 117 

very nice boxes, silk or satin, fluted, is a great addition. 
Plait it above and below on a narrow piece of paper, and 
paste the edges down ; then take an oblong piece of silk and 
another of paper, place a piece of cotton wool on the paper 
sprinkled with perfume powder, then cover with the silk, and 
baste the paper over the edge, pasting the whole on the lid in 
the center. After you have covered it, paste neatly round it 
a gold beading (or bind the edges of the box first with gold 
paper) ; close the box when the inside is finished, and com- 
mence on the outside. Some persons take out the bottom of 
the box in lining it, a§ it is easier to paste it smoothly, and 
then nail it in its place. Cover the whole outside of the box 
with polished enamel paper (Japanese paper is very beautiful, 
but expensive,) and cover the bottom of the box; then bind 
the edges of the box with gold paper, and place beading on 
the edge where it meets the colored paper. The styles may 
be varied by pasting gold beading in stripes all over the box ; 
ornament the sides, if you prefer, with pictures. On the lid, 
gold corner-pieces, besides the beading, are an improvement. 
In the center place some pretty picture, varnish it with map 
varnish, and then frame the picture with a gold beading. A 
loop of ribbon should be pasted on the lid to raise it by, and 
your box is finished. If your box is for gloves or handker- 
chiefs, you may cut out in old Koman or English letters, in 
gold paper, "Gantes'^ or "Mouchoir," and paste them on 
the front side of the box. Pin-cushions ccoild be fastened on 
the top of toilet boxes. 

The pictures and gilding that come on linen or cambric 
goods may be used for this purpose.' Common flour paste is 
the best ; a little common glue mixed in while boiling im- 
proves the paste. Mucilage can be used to glue on the bead- 
ing. The paper should be thoroughly wet with paste. Be- 
gin to paste smoothly from the center, in order to keep out 
all air. 



118 HOUSE AND HOME ARTS. 



POTICfflMANlE. 

PoTicniMANiE is the art of imitating painting on glass or 
China. The most beautiful of the Chinese porcelain, Sevres, 
Japanese or Etruscan vases, can be so closely imitated, that 
none but connoisseurs can discover at first sight, the differ- 
ence. The work is attractive, and very simple ; the mate- 
rials employed are few, and inexpensive. 

First, select some plain glass vases, resembling in shape 
and size the particular style of China you wish to represent. 
You can have vases of any shape blown and fashioned for 
you at the glass houses. 

Select your colored figures, representing the style of China 
you wish to imitate ; let them be rich, and clear in their 
colors. You will need two or three small brushes, such 
as painters use, some strong gum water, and a bottle of 
varnish. Use paint for the groundwork of the color you 
wish to represent. The ground color of the Chinese porce- 
lain is in general a greenish whits ; the Sevres a bluish 
white ; while the Etruscan is a pale yellow. These three 
colors are generally all that are wanted. A delicate pink is 
sometimes used. For any one kind of vase, only one ground 
color is necessary. A pair of very fine pointed scissors will 
also be required. 

Then proceed to cut out your figures with great care ; if 
you can cut a trifle within your figures, all the better, for no 
white edges must be visible. When they are all cut, arrange 
them on a sheet of paper in the order in which they are to be 
placed in the vase, and gum them very evenly and carefully 
on the colored side ; let them lay until the gum rather 
thickens and the paper on which they are colored softens ; 
then take them up carefully and place them in their proper 



POTICHIMANIE. Il9 

places on the inside of your vase ; press them carefally with 
a bit of old linen tight to the glass, excluding all air between 
them and the glass, otherwise bubbles will be formed, and 
the work will be spoiled. When all the pictures are arranged, 
wipe the glass clean, except where it is covered by the pic- 
tures. After the work is diy and clean, varnish the back of 
the prints, and paint the inside of the vase with the ground 
color. Some persons pour it in the vase, and let it run 
around, and then carefully brash it on ; some put it on near 
the pictiu'es by gently tapping the glass with the brush. 
Great care must be taken not to let the paint run under the 
paintings. The antennae of butterflies and other minute 
objects may be imitated in gold, or by drawing them on 
the glass with gum water and sprinkling them with gold 
bronze powder. This must be done before the ground paint 
is laid. Gold stars scattered over some kinds of vases may 
improve them. You can buy sheets of appropriate designs 
already colored. If you prefer to color them yourself, you 
must be sure and have your colors clear and bright; the 
brighter they are the better they will appear. Where gold 
is introduced, it is better to use the shell or prepared gold. 
It is applied in the same manner as water colors, and may 
be used with good effect, in borders, single ornaments, flowers, 
insects, and to fill up when no other color is introduced. 
This work may be used in various ways to decorate your 
homes. The inside of your vase should be varnished, to give 
it the smoothness of China, and you can have the rim gilded. 
If several coats of sizing are applied, the vase may be filled 
with water without injury to the paint ; but you can fit cups 
to the vases, in which to put water for flowers. Hall lamps, 
windows, &c., are decorated in the same manner, except that 
no ground color is used. Cabinet boxes, tables, and a great 
variety of other articles, both useful and ornamental, may, with 
a little ingenuity and taste, be rendered extremely elegant. 



120 HOUSE AND HOME AETS. 



ORNAMENTS IN EICE SHELL-WOEK. 

The rice shells are brought from the West Indies, and are 
sold by measure, or by the box, at the conchological reposito- 
ries. They can be bought already prepared for use, but are 
more expensive in that form. To prepare the rough shell for 
use, you must first take a long pia and free the interior of 
each shell from all grit or dirt ; next with your scissors clip 
the extreme tip of the shell so as to leave a tiny hole like the 
eye of a needle. This must be carefully done or the shell 
will be spoiled, or your eyes may be seriously injured by the 
flying fragments. Practice soon enables one to clip them rap- 
idly and evenly. 

It is advisable to have at hand a number of small card 
boxes, to hold your articles. In clipping, it is well to sort the 
shells by the sizes, and lay them in separate boxes. Small, 
flat, white shells, nearly transparent, add to the beauty of 
the shell-work. These must be bored by a sharp needle 
near the stem. When all are clipped, pour over them cold 
water, with a little soda and castile soap. The latter should 
be shreded, and mixed in the proportion of half an ounce to 
each pint of water. Then cover your pan and place it near 
a good fire, or in an oven ; let it remain till scalding hot, 
stirring now and then ; then take it away, and rub the shells 
gently with your hands ; then pour off the water and rinse 
the shells ; add a fresh supply of water and soap only, and 
repeat the same process; after being again rinsed in clear 
water take a few shells, fold them in a soft towel to dry them, 
and afterwards rub them with a silk handkerchief ; then place 
them in a dish near the fire and shake them occasionally till 
they are dry. Then place them in a box ready for use. They 
should appear polished and pearly white. Too much soap, 



ORNAMENTS IN EICE SHELL-WORK. 121 

soda, or heat will turn them yellow. Too great heat in drying 
will cause them to be brittle and crack, but they must be dry 
before using. 

Next you must procure silver wire. This can be bought at 
gold and silver bullion makers, or at musical instrument 
makers. You need several sizes, the very finest thread wire 
to wind around the stems, a size to twist in the shell and an- 
other for stems. 

The largest shells are better for baskets and heavier work, 
the middle size and smallest for flowers and leaves. Each 
kind should have its own box. Into one box cut some two 
or three hundred pieces of middle sized wire, about two and 
a half inches in length. You should collect for use various 
materials, such as floss silk, fine wire chenille, roman pearl 
beads, (the solid or grain-like bead is preferable,) coral beads, 
or turquoise, pink, green or yellow, red flower seeds, velvet, 
satin, or silver leaves and silver bullion. Having collected 
materials for a wreath and sprays of various flowers, com- 
mence your work by stringing your shells on your 
]\ bits of wire. Turn the wire over the shell ; hold the 
j folded wire between thumb and finger of the right 
hand, and turn the shell round and round until the 
wires are firmly twisted together. Very soon you 
will be astonished at the rapidity with which you 
string and twist your shells. They look like this cut, 
when prepared. Much time will be saved by keeping 
WIRED your different sized shells separate. Having wired 
' several hundred, you can proceed to prepare a leaf. 
The cut at the head of page 122 shows the leaf when 
made. It takes from five to fifteen or twenty shells to form a 
leaf; the number depends on the size of the leaf. The 
smallest shell forms the apex, the others graduated in size by 
pairs. Then take your shells and bind them together, one by 
one, with the finest wire or floss silk, leaving out a small por- 

6 



122 



HOUSE AJv'D HOME AETS. 




tion of tlie twisted wire, gradually increasing the piece left 
out, as the plate indicates, leaving all the 
openings of the shell all one way ; bind 
the stem firmly, leaving no ends of wire, 
as they catch in everything, besides look- 
ing untidy. 

To form a flower or bud, take one of the 
lengths of the wire, thread on a shell, and 
then a pearl bead, then a second shell, and 
twist the wire firm. The place of the bead 
is between the points of the two shells, and 
both openings meet and are not seen. The 
SHELL-LEAF. figure bolow shows a simple flower com- 
posed of five wired shells, firmly twisted together down to the 
extremity. A double flower is composed of 
eighteen shells, twelve small ones, and six 
of a middle size. These latter are arranged 
as in the single flower. The twelve are 
made into four leaflets. A few pearl beads 
in the center of the flower improves it. It is 
easy to shape them as you wish by bending 
the wires. A simple flower may be arranged like the spokes 
of a wheel. 

Wheat ears (see cut on next page) may be made of any 
number of shells, from eight to thirty, one taken as an ajjex, 
then a pair set on either side of it and one in the center, and 
other pairs successively to the end, binding all firmly to the 
points of the shells, and putting in here and there three quar- 
ter inch length of middle sized wire to resemble the beards. 
Ornamental groups can be made by threading good sized 
shells on middle sized wires, twisting them together and wind- 
ing them on a fine knitting needle. When drawn out they 
have a spiral form. Bind several thus formed together at the 
ends. Their dancing, wavy motion adds to the gracefulness 




SHELL-FLOWER. 



OENAMENTS IN EICE SHELL-WORK. 



123 




AVHEAT 

EAKS. 



of your sjpray or wreath. The white, round shells used as 
leaves are very pretty; even whole flowers are 
often made of them. Wire chenille and colored 
beads increase the effect. 

Neatness and grace must be studied, care must 
be used to avoid cutting off the thread wire, or 
floss, any oftener than possible. In making 
wreaths and sprays every one must exercise his or 
her own taste. Infinite varieties of forms can be 
designed ; you can trim a head-dress exquisitely 
with them. 

I advise young ladies to try their skill. It is 
fascinating work and the effect is beautiful. Bri- 
dal wreaths formed of the rice shells, Roman pearls, 
white chenille, and silver wire are often made. 
Bugle flowers can be made in the same way, taking 
wire the color of the bead. 
Shell baskets are very ornamental. Exquisite watch stands 
and cigar or match stands can be formed of shells. Your 
frames should be made of wood or tin. Cover them thick 
with white paint. The painters will prepare it for you as 
thick as putty, with boiled oil. Paint must be selected that 
will not turn yellow and will dry quickly. After covering 
your frame thickly with this preparation, lay on the shells in 
whatever form your own taste may direct. Place them so 
thick that none of the paint will be visible, and set the frame 
aside until it is dry. The drying may require several days. 
When it is dry varnish it with white map varnish. 

Watch stands, in the form of a church or other building, 
may be made with a tin frame. Bolls of tin may be used 
for columns and towers, and soldered to the frame. A circu- 
lar opening must be made in the frame through which the 
watch can be seen, and a small case of tin must be soldered 
to the back of the frame in which the watch can be held 



124 



HOUSE AND HOME ARTS. 




V/ATCH-STAND. 



firmly. Take two blocks of wood similar in form, but one of 
them larger tban tke other, and glue the smaller one on top 

of the other; then 
make a slit along the 
middle line of the up- 
per block, in which the 
tin frame is to be in- 
serted and fastened 
with glue. The blocks 
will represent the steps 
to the building, and 
may be covered with 
shells. If the building 
represents a church, a 
cross for the top may be made of tiny rice shells. The towers 
should be covered with larger sized rice shells, and on the sum- 
mit of each a small cone shell should be placed. The opening 
for the watch should be surrounded by flat, round, white shells. 
The inside of the case for the watch should be lined with crunson 
velvet, glued in. The outside should be covered with shells. 
Harps, guitars, etc., etc., can be ornamented in the same 
way. If they are riveted into marble slabs, the trouble of 
covering the stands with shells will be avoided. Cigar stands 
can be made of thick card-board, but tin is better ; it must 
be cut about seven and a half inches long and four inches 
wide, and soldered together, (to make a round cup) and fast- 
ened upon a stand. Boxes, tables, vases, and all kinds of 
ornamental articles can be covered with shells. 



ALLSPICE BASKETS. 

The allspice berries should be soaked in spirit to soften 
them, and then holes should be made through them. They 



BASKETS. 125 

are strung on slender wires, wHcli are twisted or woven into 
diamonds or squares, or rows as you fancy, and then formed 
into baskets. A gold band between every two berries gives 
a lively look to tbe basket. Around the top are sometimes 
twisted semi-circles of berries, from wbicli are suspended fes- 
toons of berries strung on silk, drooping over the outside. 

The baskets may be lined with bright colored silk and orna- 
mented with ribbons. Baskets can be made of- cloves in 
the same way, by taking off the berry and soaking the long 
part in spirit. Bead baskets are also made in the same way ; 
the wu^e should be the color of the bead. Cut glass beads 
are the most desirable, as they glitter prettily amidst the green 
boughs of the Christmas tree. 



EICE OR SHELL BASKETS. 

The frame is made of paste-board neatly lined ; the ground- 
work can be white or colored, as you fancy ; fasten on with 
gum either grains of rice, bugles of different colors, or small 
rice shells, arranged in any form your please. 



WAFER BASKETS. 

Make a neat card-board frame and bind the edges with gilt 
paper. Take the smallest wafers you can get ; keep a whole 
one for the ground work ; cut another in halves ; wet the 
edges of one of the halves and stick it upright through the 
middle of the whole one ; cut the other half into two quarters, 
wet the two straight sides, and place them on each side of the 
half wafer ; this forms a kind of rosette. When you have 
enough prepared, wet the bottoms of the whole wafers, and 
fasten them on the basket in such forms as you please. It 



126 HOUSE AND HOME ARTS. 

is very pretty to have the whole wafer one color and the 
rosette another. Stars can he made by placing six quarter 
wafers around the half in place of two. The handle can be 
decorated in the same manner, or with ribbons. Care must 
be taken to have the wafers cut even and uniform. 



IMPRESSIONS OF BUTTERFLIES. 

If you find a dead butterfly, cut off the wings and place 
them upon clean paper, in the position they occupy when the 
insect is flying. Spread some clean, thick gum water on an- 
other piece of paper and press it on the wings; the little col- 
ored, feathery substance will adhere to it ; then lay a piece of 
white paper upon the top of the gummed paper, and rub it 
gently with your finger, or the smooth handle of a knife. A 
perfect impression of the wings will thus be taken. The 
body must be drawn and painted in the space between the 
wings. 



TO TAKE IMPRESSIONS OF LEAVES. 

- Dip a piece of white paper in sweet oil, and hold it over 
the lamp until it is thoroughly blackened with smoke ; place 
a green leaf upon the black surface, and let it remain pressed 
upon it for a few moments ; then put it between two pieces of 
white paper and press it in a book, with something heavy 
upon the top of it. When taken out, one of the papers will 
have received a perfect impression of the leaf with all its 
little veins. Some think the impression is more distinct if a 
little lamp-black and oil be passed lightly over the leaf with 
a hair pencil, instead of smoking it over a lamp. 



LANDSCAPES : TRANSPAEENT PAPEE. 127 



PAPER LANDSCAPES. 

Observe well the shadows of the pictures you wish to copy ; 
draw their shapes as exactly .as you can, and cut them out. 
Paste these pieces on a sheet of paper, in the same relative 
positions they oeeupy in the landscape ; if the shade be rather 
light, pixt on only one thickness of paper; if darker, two 
thicknesses and three thicknesses may be used ; if the shadow 
is very deep and heavy, five or sis pieces may be pasted on, 
one above another. When held up to the light, shades are 
produced differing in degree according to the thickness of the 
paper. These make very pretty transparencies for lamps in 
Summer. Lamp shades can be made in this way with colored 
paper placed between two thin white papers and so arranged 
that the shadows will represent grapes, or any fruit or flower. 
China lamp shades are prepared in the same way, that is, por- 
tions of the china are made thicker than others ; in the day- 
light they appear perfectly v/hite, but when the light shines 
through them the shades look like a soft landscape in India 
ink. It is on the same principle that the fceautifal Parian 
transparencies are made for windows. 







ISTatiiral Magic. 




HE ^OLIAN HAEP consists of an ob- 
long box of thin deal board about five or six 
.inebes deep, with a circle drawn in the mid- 
I die of the upper side, an inch and a half in 
diameter, around which are to be drilled 
small holes. Along the upper side of the 
box seven, ten or more small strings of very 
fine gut are stretched over bridges near each 
end, like the bridges of a violin, and tight- 
ened or relaxed with screw pins. The strings must be tuned 
to one and the same note, and the instrument placed in some 
current of air where the wind can pass over its strings 
with freedom. A window, the width of which is exactly 
equal to the length of the harp, with the sash just raised to 
give the air admission, is a good situation. When the wind 
blows upon the strings, with various degrees of force, differ- 
ent musical tones will be sounded; sometimes the blast 
brings out all the tones in full concert, and sometimes it 
sinks them to the softest murmur. In many old castles these 
harps were fastened in the windows, and their wild music 
caused the ignorant to think they were haunted 



THE MAGIC OF ACOUSTICS. 129 

A colossal imitation of the instrument just described was 
invented at Milan, in 1786, by Abbate Gattoni. He stretched 
seven strong iron wires, tuned to the notes of the gamut, 
from the top of a tower sixty feet high, to the house of a 
Signor Muscate, who was interested in the success of the ex- 
periment; and this apparatus, called the giant's harp, in 
blowing weather yielded lengthened peals of harmonious 
music. In a storm this music was sometimes heard at the 
distance of several miles. 

Simply tyiQg waxed saddler's silk to little sticks, and push- 
ing them into the crevices of windows, so as to receive a draft 
of wind (the silk beiag strained tight), will produce very 

sweet sounds. 

«>- 

THE MAaiG OF ACOUSTICS. 
The science of Acoustics furnished the ancient sorcerers 
with some of their most complete deceptions. The imitation 
of thunder in their subterranean temples did not fail to 
indicate the presence of a supernatural agent. The golden 
virgins, whose ravishing voices resounded through the temple 
of Delphos ; the stone from the river Pactoles, where trumpet 
notes scared the robber from the treasure which it guarded ; 
the speaking head, which uttered its oracular responses at 
Lesbos; and the vocal statue of Memnon, which began at 
the break of day to accost the rising sun, were all deceptions 
derived from science, and from a diligent observation of the 
phenomena of nature. 



TO SHOW HOW SOUND TEAVELS 
THEOUGH A SOLID. 

Take a long piece of wood, such as the handle of a broom, 
place a watch at one end, apply your ear to the other, and 
the ticking wUl be distinctly heard. 



130 NATURAL MAGIC. 



A SINGULAK EXAMPLE OF SUPERSTI- 
TION. 

The following true story was related to me bj'one wlio was 
personally acquainted with, the facts. There was a certain 
bend in one of our western rivers which, was avoided by every 
one, as it was supposed to be haunted by the devil. At a 
certain hour in the evening, for many years, terrible curses 
were distinctly heard. Suddenly they ceased. A gentleman 
skilled in the science of acoustics, hearing an account of the 
strange phenomena, determined to ascertain the cause, and 
carefully examined the river on eacb side for about a mile 
above and below the bend. He ascertained that at about the 
time the sounds ceased, an old fisherman, who had lived on 
the opposite side of the river, full a mile from the spot where 
the curses were heard, had died. He was told that the fisher- 
man was in the habit of crossing the river to a village, where 
he found a market for his fish, and where he spent his money 
for liquor, and that after drinking freely on his way home, 
while rowing across the river at night, he would swear terribly. 
This gentleman then persuaded a friend to go down the river 
to the place where the curses were formerly heard, while he 
remained in a boat on the river at the point at whicb the old 
man usually crossed. He then played on a bugle and sung 
several songs. His friend soon returned, and with eager 

delight exclaimed : " Oh, , such glorious music fills 

the air just where the curses used to be heard." The neigh- 
bors came rushing down to hear it, and some fell on their 
knees praying; they said "the angels have driven the devil 

away." Mr. then asked what were the songs they 

heard. His friend described them correctly, and said he 
understood even the words, one of them being the famous 



THEORY OF THE VOICE. 181 

Marseillaise, another a German song ; the foreign words made 
the ignorant more sure that the sounds were supernatural. 

Mr. then played on the bugle and sang again the 

same songs, while his friend stood by ; but his friend said the 
music was not equal to that he had heard below, where the 
sounds had really seemed heavenly. 

The pecuHar configeration of the river banis had concen- 
trated the sounds, and the distance and the water had 
softened them. 

The person who related this anecdote to me said that he 
and his friend had often tried the Experiment, Nothing 
would convince the more ignorant neighbors that the sounds 
were occasioned by merely natural causes. A love of the 
supernatural is strong within us, and sometimes leads us into 
grave mistakes. 



THEORY OF THE VOICE. 

Provide a species of whistle common as a child's toy, or a 
sportsman's call, in the form of a hollow cylinder, about three- 
fourths of an inch in diameter, closed at both ends, by flat 
circular plates with holes in their centres. Hold this toy 
between the teeth and the lips ; blow through it, and you can 
produce sounds, varying in pitch with the force with which 
you blow. If the air be cautiously -graduated, all the sounds 
within the compass of a double octave may be produced from 
it; and, if great precaution be taken in the management of 
the breath, even deeper tones may be brought out. This 
simple instrument, or toy, has indeed the greatest resemblance 
to the larynx, which is the organ of the voice. 



132 



SrATURAL MAGIC. 



THE VISIBLY GROWING AGORN. 

Cut a circular^ piece of card to fit the top of a hyacinth 
glass, so as to rest upon the ledge, and exclude the air. 
Pierce a hole through the centre of the card, and pass through 
it a strong thread, having a small piece of wood tied to one 
end, which, resting transversely on the card, is prevented 
from being drawn through. To the other end of the thread 
attach an acorn ; and having half filled the glass with water, 
suspend the acorn at a short distance from the surface. The 
glass must he kept in a warm room ; and in a few days the 
steam which has generated in the glass will hang from the 
acorn in a large drop. Shortly afterwards the acorn will 
burst, the root will protrude and thrust itself into the water ; 
and ia a few days more a stem will shoot out at the other 
end, and rising upwards, will press against the card, in which 
an orifice must be made to allow it to pass through. From 
this stem small leaves will soon begin to sprout ; and in the 
course of a few weeks you will have a handsome oak plant, 
several inches in height. 




Dancing 




■•ANCINGr is the most agreeable of all in- 
jdoor pastimes that combine pleasure with 
kealthful exercise. It also gives grace and 
I elasticity to the movements. The modern 
gymnasium has many of the attractions of 
our dancing schools, but its exercises are often 
1 too violent for dehcate children. The danc- 
ing school has proved physically beneficial to 
many who have been sent to it as an experi- 
ment, at an early age. Such exercise invig- 
orates the frame and does more for permanent health than 
can be accomphshed by medicine. Exercise, to be beneficial, 
m-ust have some pleasant excitement connected with it. 

It is a pleasant sight to see a home circle, old and young, 
joining in a lively quadrille, or an old fashioned contra dance, 
in the early evening hour, either the mother or a daughter 
presiding at the piano. How joyously even children of three 
and four years old make their tiny feet move in time to merry 
music. "Pop goes the Weasel" is a dance only suited to 
little children, and they are apt scholars and can all join in sing- 
ing the popular tune. It may be well to give the directions 
for this and a few other dances. 



134 DANCING. 



POP GOES THE WEASEL. 

This is an old Englisli dance revived. The positions first 
taken are the same as in the contra dance, the ladies and gen- 
tlemen being placed in lines opposite to each other. The 
couple at the top begin the figures. They first dance down 
outside the lines and back, then join hands and down the 
middle, then join hands with the lady of the couple nest to 
them and the three dance around in a circle till the music 
comes to "Pop goes the Weasel." As they sing that, the sec- 
ond lady passes quickly under the joined hands of the couple 
dancing, and goes to her place ; the same couple then join 
hands with the gentleman opposite, and at the proper time he 
pops under their joined hands in like manner ; then down out- 
side, back again and join hands and down the middle ; then 
take the next lady and dance around as before. So on through 
the whole line. As soon as the top couple have danced down 
twice, the nest couple begins. If there are long lines, there 
is often a number of couples dancing together, and when all 
sing in time the dance is very pretty. 



LANCERS. 



Tins, also, is a very old English dance. There are innu- 
merable changes, but those given here are the most popular. 

fitst 6han^^. 

First lady and opposite gentleman fonyard and back ; same 
couple forward a second time, turn with right hand, and re- 



LANCERS. 135 

turn to places. First and 

riKST COUPLE. , T 

second couple cross over, 
^ ® first couple joining hands 

bj and passing between the sec- 
^ ^ Mh 'B ond couple, and return to 

o ' H places, the second couple 

3 joining hands and passing 

::: ^ 2 between the first. Balance 

at the comers, the four la^ 

© ^ dies to the gentlemen on the 

SECOND COUPLE. ^Ight, gentlemen facing the 

left, to return the balance. 

Turn partners with both hands to places. Same for the other 

three couples. 

$^i:;j:injd t^han^:^/ 

First couple forward and back. Forward a second time 
and leave lady in front of opposite couple facing her partner, 
gentleman returning to place. The same couple chassez to 
right and left, and turn to places with both hands. All eight 
forward and back in two lines ; forward and turn partners to 
places. In forming two lines first and second times, the side 
couples separate from their partners, and join each side of the 
head couples, fonning two lines, four on a side ; third and fourth 
times the head couples join the sides. 

First gentleman and opposite lady forward and back. 
Forward a second time and salute with a low bow and low 
graceful courtesy and return to places. The four ladies then 
form a windmill by giving their right hands, while the four 
gentlemen take their left hands, with their left hands, all fac- 
ing the same direction, and promenade entirely around, and 
turn partners to places. 



136 DANCING. 

Ladies grand chain is danced in Paris in place of the wind- 
mill. The tnree other couples dance the same. 

Fourth ^hnnge. 

First couple visit the couple on the right hand, salute with 
bow and courtesy. Visit the couple on the left and salute, 
then change across and salute same couple again. Fu-st 
couple return to place. Eight and left with opposite couples. 
The other three couples dance the same. In Paris they dance 
it double, first and second couples at the same time, and so on. 

Fifth €hm^e. 

Grand right and left. First couple turn and face outward. 
Then couple on the right take their place behind the first, 
then the couple on the left, the second couple behind all. 
All chassez across and back, gentlemen passing behind kdies. 
Promenade outside, ladies to the left. Gentlemen to right, 
meeting at the bottom, and coming up together. All eight 
forward and back, ladies on one side, gentlemen on the other. 
All forward and turn partners to places. This is danced 
through till each couple has taken turn in being the leaders. 



GEAND SQUAEE. 



At the same time, the first lady and second gentleman, and 
the second lady and first gentleman join hands and turn to 



LE PRINCE IMPERIAL QUADRILLE. 137 

1 1 the sides, while the third 

^ @ lady and fourth gentleman 

and fourth lady and third 
gentleman passing on the 
^ ^^ outside of the first and sec- 

ond couples, join hands and 
'^ ^ ® ^ take the latters' place. Then 

they pass on the inside and 

^ ^, the others on the outside, 

^ „ each taking his own partner 

to place. Then repeat, only 

reversing it, by the first and second couples going on the outr 

side first, and the third and fourth inside. 



LE PEINCE IMPEEIAL QUADEILLE. 

(A new change introduced by the Empress Eugenie.) 

First 6ban^^» 

LE CHAINE CONTINLTS DES DAMES. 
Head couples to sides. First and second couples lead to 
right hand couples, and all salute, (viz : first couple to third, 
second to fourth.) First and second gentlemen retaining 
partner's hand, take with their left hands, the left hands of 
the side ladies. The two threes thus promenade to places of 
head couples, second to first couples' place, first to second 
couples' place, all facing the centre. Ladies grand chain; 
the four ladies, without the gentlemen, make a movement like 
the grand chain of the "Lancers," by crossing over from 
head to head of sets, giving right hands ; passing from side 
to side, giving left hands ; again back from head to head of 
set, giving right hands, and across again to side, giving left 
hands, ending with each lady in front of her partner, lady fac- 



138 DANCING. 

ing outward. All ctassez to right and left and turn partners. 
By repeating this figure the first and second couples return 
to places, after which the side couples dance the figure twice 
through. ^ 

LA NOUVELLE TEENIS. 
First gentleman and second lady forward, and turn with 
both hands, both stopping in front and facing the lady who 
was left in her place. Cross over ; the single lady passes be- 
tween this couple and crosses to opposite gentleman, giving 
him her left hand, (that gentleman giving his left hand also,) 
and turn to lady's place on right of that gentleman; at the 
same time the other two cross over to first couple's place, and 
turn with left hands and face opposite couple. Forward four 
and back ; half ladies' chain, (the ladies thus return to part- 
ners.) All eight ehassez across and turn at corners. All 
chassez back and turn partners. 

Third i^han^'je* 

LA CORBEILLE. 
First gentleman leaves lady ia the center, (the lady facing 
outward,) separating with salute. Second gentleman the 
same ; third gentleman the same ; fourth the same. Ladies 
hands around ; the four ladies thus back to back take hands 
and round to right, stopping in front of partners. Grentle- 
men forward. The four gentlemen advance and give right 
hands to partners and left hands to next lady, and make a 
large circle. All balance ia circle and turn partners to place. 

Fjaurtli i^hange* 

LA DOUBLE PASTOUEELLE. 
Forward four. First and second couples forward and 
back ; leave partners on sides ; first gentleman leaves his lady 
on left of third gentleman, and retmuis to place ; at the same 



COMMON COTILLION". - 139 

time the second lady leaves her gentleman on right of fourth 
fedj, and retires to place ; forward six ; the six on sides for- 
ward and back twice ; two forward ; the first gentleman and 
second lady forward and hack. Forward again, salute, and 
pass to side where partners are. Four hands half around, 
with sides. Right and left to places. 

Fifth m-im^^, ' 

LA TOURBILLON 

Ladies to right. The four ladies pass to the gentleman 
next on their right, and turn with him, both giving right 
hands. They pass again to the right, and turn with next gen- 
tleman, (with same hands.) They pass again and turn, 
finally pass again to the right, which brings all to partners. 
First couple forward and back. Turn with right hands end- 
ing in centre, face to face. All four to right and left. Turn 
to places. 

After the ladies repeat the first sixteen bars of this figure 
a fifth time, all the gentlemen place their partners in the cen- 
tre, facing outward, each lady thus facing her own partner. 
Then the quadrille thus terminates by all saluting. 



COMMON COTILLION". 
Fitst 6han^^» 

First and second couples right and left. The same couples 
balance. Ladies chain. Same half promenade, half right 
and left back. 

Forward two, first lady and second gentleman then cross 
over, chassez and return to places. Balance. Each couple 
the same. 



140 DANCING. 

Rigjit hand across, first and second couples cross over giv- 
ing right hands to opposites as they pass. Left hands hack, 
which are retained, giving right hands to partners, thus form- 
ing a circle in the middle of the set. Balance in a circle, then 
cross to opposite sides ; chassez. Two ladies forward and back ; 
two gentlemen the same ; four forward and back ; right and 
left to places. Head couples repeat, then the sides the same. 

Forward four and back ; forward a second time, first gen- 
tleman leaving first lady on the left of opposite gentleman ; 
three forward twice, second time first gentleman handing both 
ladies to opposite gentleman ; three forward twice on opposite 
side, the second time stop in the centre; four hands half 
around to the right and cross over. Right and left to places. 
Head couples repeat, then the sides go through the same figure. 

JIG DANCE. 
Hands all around. All the ladies balance to and turn gen- 
tlemen on the right, pass to the nest, balance, &c. ; so on all 
around. Hands all around, or promenade all. Gentlemen 
then pass to the right, the same as the ladies. All prome- 
nade or hands all around. 



BASKET DANCE. 

Forward two ; balance ; ladies' hands around in centre ; 
left to right ; gentlemen join hands outside the ladies and pass 
around, stopping on the left of partners ; gentlemen pass their 
joined hands over the heads of ladies, (ladies standing still,) 
and form the basket ; all balance and turn partners. 



WHITE COCKADE, QUADEILLE AND EEEL. 141 



WHITE COCKADE. 

First couple balance to rigHt ; four hands around ; first 
couple balance to left ; four hands around • hands all around. 
This is repeated by the other couples. 



THE WALTZ AND POLKA QUADRILLE. 

The changes in these quadrilles are the same as in the 
common cotillion, except that a waltz or polka is played, and 
all the changes are danced either with the waltz or polka step, 
and at the end of each change, all waltz or polka around. 



SIR ROGER DE COYERLEY, OR VIR- 
GINIA REEL. 

Danced with eight couples or more in two lines, the ladies 
on one side, gentlemen on the other, facing each other. The 
top lady and bottom gentleman execute each figure, and are 
immediately followed by the bottom lady and top gentleman, 
in the following order : forwai-d and back ; forward and turn 
with the right hand and back to places ; turn with the left 
and back ; then with both hands and back, forward and 
dos a dos and back; forward and back; (this is often 
danced by the two top ladies, and two bottom gentlemen, at 
once ; it is prettier than in couples. ) The lady then turns with 
the left hand, every gentleman down the line, while her part- 
ner turns every lady, turning his partner alternately with the 
right hand. When arrived at the bottom, chassez back to the 
head, separate from partner, lady passing down the line out- 
side of the ladies, and the gentleman outside the gentlemen, 



142 DANCING. 

all in each line following, meeting partners at the bottom and 
then chassez up the centre, when first couple chassez down the 
middle and take their positions below the last couple. The 
fig-ure is continued by the new couple at the head, and so on, 
till all have danced the whole figure. 



THE NINE-PIN DANCE. 
Eight must form a cotillion ; the ninth must stand at the 
side and call any changes he pleases, and lastly call grand 
right and left. When he claps his hands, they must all 
promenade. The one calling must then, if possible, secure 
a partner. If the attempt is successful, the one left out 
must call the changes of the dance ; and so on. 



CALEDONIAN QUADEILLES. 

First Bh^xiQ^. 

FiKST and second couples cross right hands, left hands 
back ; balance, and turn partners ; ladies' chain ; half prom- 
enade and half right and left to places. Repeat twice. 

Gentlemen forward and back twice ; all balance to comers 
and turn each lady, passing into the next lady's place • all 
promenade. This figure to be repeated four times. 

Third €hwci^^. 

First lady and opposite gentleman forward and back twice ; 
first couples pass between opposite couples in crossing over, 
and return outside; balance to comers, and turn to places; 



CALEDONIAN QUADKILLES. 



all join hands in a circle and forward and back twice, 
peat four times. 



14a 

Ke- 



First lady and opposite gentleman forward and stop ; part- 
ners the same ; turn partners to then' places ; four ladies 
change places to the right ; gentlemen change places to the 
left; ladies change places again to the right; gentlemen 
change again to the left ; all around to their places, and turn 
partners. Repeat four times. 

fifth 6hang^» 

First couple promenade around inside ; ladies all forward 
to centre ; give right hands and back to places ; gentleman 
the same ; balance to partners and turn ; grand right and 
left half round ; promenade to places and turn partners ; all 
chassez across, giving right hands at comers and back to 
places. Eepeat four times ; then all promenade. 




Dramatic Amnse- 
ments. 




^EIVATE THEATEICALS and dramatic 
or Shakspeare reading clubs are among the 
I fashionable amusements of the present day. 
Many, I know, disapprove of them ; but I 
think they do far more good than harm. 
They certainly strengthen the lungs, memory, 
and improve the intellectual tastes. But I 
will not discuss the subject, as far abler pens 
than mine have already argued on both sides 
of the question. Private theatricals amuse 
a large circle of friends, and any club willing to undertake 
the presentation of plays deserves the thanks of the audience. 
Even a simple farce requkes much labor and frequent 
rehearsals, to be well acted, and one soon wearies of the con- 
stant repetition of even witty sayings. The most trivial 
character must be careftdly studied, for one bad actor often 
destroys the effect of the whole play. Then the foot-lights, 
stage, &c., must be prepared. A few directions, with a list 
of easy farces may be of service. All who live in cities can 
easily hire scenery, dresses, &c., but for the benefit of towns 



PKIVATE THEATKICALS. 145 

and villages, I will give a short account of how such things 
can be managed. 

Some lady can almost always be found who will give the 
use of her house. A house should be selected which has 
two parlors, connected by large folding doors, or an arch; 
one parlor being for the audience, and the other for the stage. 
All the furniture and carpets should be taken from the latter 
room. A rough staging should be built (boards can be 
easily hired), and by boring a hole in the floor a gas-pipe can 
be run up along the front of the staging, with a sufficient 
number of burners. Tin shades painted green (as they ren- 
der the light softer, and more agreeable to the eye) are an 
addition, for they keep the light from the audience, and throw 
it directly on the actors. A large floor cloth can be nailed 
on the stage for a carpet. A drop curtain, so arranged as to 
be rolled up quickly and easily, by means of a cord pulley 
at one side of the stage, where the prompter sits, just out of 
sight of the audience, is necessary. Scenery for the sides 
and back parts of the stage can be roughly painted on cloth ; 
it answers every purpose of canvass by being strained when 
wet over light wooden frames (made so as to be easily moved); 
when dry, it presents a smooth, hard surface. 

Each member should provide his or her own dress. To 
give the required expressions to the faces, a box of good 
water colors, some fine chalk powder, camel's hair pencils, 
and rouge saucers, are wanted. To make frowns, scowls, or 
comical expressions, such as a broad grin, smirk, or simper, 
stand before a mirror and assume the desired expression ; then 
trace the wrinkles produced, with a fine brush of the brown 
tint ; this will fix the required expression on your face. 
Rouge is best applied with the finger. Burnt cork is excel- 
lent for darkening eyebrows, and making moustaches, also 
for representing leanness, which will be done by applying a 
faint tint just under the eyes, on the sides of the cheeks, and 



146 DRAMATIC AMUSEMENTS. 

under the lower lip. A strong mark running from the corner 
of the nose down towards the corner of the mouth on each 
side, marks age or emaciation. 

A few directions may be of use in regard to the prepara- 
tion of theatrical dresses. Powdered wigs can be made of 
tow, raveled yarn, or gray colored horse hair ; beards and 
moustache of the same, or a piece of buffalo skin. Ermine 
can be made of cotton flannel with tags of lion skin cloth 
sewed on, or black tags painted. Pelisse wadding is some- 
times used. 

Crowns and sceptres are easily made of pasteboard and 
gold paper. Velvet talma cloaks, capes, or even the loose 
velvet sack, can be converted into cavalier cloaks (the arm- 
holes in the sack must be fastened up on the inside), by fas- 
tening them gracefully over one shoulder. Then put on a 
large old-fashioned lace collar, ruffles around the hand, a Kos- 
suth hat, looped up on one side with a paste pin or buckle, 
fastening a white or black plume, (taken from some lady's bon- 
net) , stockings drawn over the pantaloons and fastened at the 
knees with bows and buckles ; and lo ! with but little trouble, 
you have a fine cavalier of the olden times. With old finery and 
a little ingenuity, a theatrical wardrobe can be quickly made, 
if all are willing to do their part, but the larger share of the 
work is generally done by a few. Rocks can be made by 
throwing plain gray blanket shawls over ottomans, tables, &c. 
Rain may be imitated by dropping peas in a tin pan, thunder 
by rattling sheet-u'on, lightning by means of a tin tube, 
larger at one end than the other, and filled with powdered 
resin. The smaller end of the tube should be open, the 
other end so managed that the resin may sift through. Shake 
the tube over a lamp, or blow the resin through a plain tube 
into the flame of a lamp, and you will have a good imitation 
of hghtning. 

Dissolve crystals of nitrate of copper in spirits of wine. 



DRAMATIC READING CLUBS. 147 

liglit the solution and it will burn with a beautiful emerald 
green flame. Pieces of sponge, soaked in this spirit, lighted 
and suspended by fine wires over the stage of theatres, pro- 
duce the lambent green flames, now so common in incantation 
Scenes. Strips of flannel saturated with it, and wrapped 
around pieces of copper, will form the swords and fire-forks 
brandished by the demons in such scenes. Devices like the 
■above are very simple, and add much to the general effect. 

The following is a list of plays which are easily and often 
acted in private theatricals : 





^i^m^^hs. 


The Rivals. 




London Assurance. 


Tashion. 




Lady of Lyons. 




^mc^s. 


The Loan of a Lover. 




Poor Pillecody. 


The Widow's Victim. 




Bombastes Furioso. 


Perfection. 




Lend Me Five Shillings. 


Sketches in India. 




Phantom Breakfast. 


Morning Calls. 




Eougli Diamond. 


Swiss Cottage. 




A Pretty Piece of Business 


My New Wife and 


My Old 


Old Guard. 


Umbrella. 




A Game of Eomps. 


Kill or Cure. 


_-^ 


Betsy Baker. 



DEAMATIC READING CLUBS. 

These clubs are far more agreeable to their mem^bers and 
less lOiely to cause unpleasant rivalries, which, it is to be re- 
gretted, are apt to arise among even private actors. Human 
nature, alas, is weak ! Some clubs read Shakspeare alone. It 
is most certainly a noble study, and one we can never weary 
of. Few can hope ever to excel in deUneating Shakspeare. 
Therefore it is well, if we meet together for social enjoyment 
as Well as improvement, to have a variety of plays. I have 
known of very successful clubs, and I wiU give the general 



148 DRAMATIC AMUSEMENTS. 

manner of proceeding adopted by one of them, as it may as- 
sist in the formation of others. The club was started by 
some young ladies with a view of making home and winter 
evenings agreeable to their brothers ; a committee was chosen 
to form a code of laws. Each one was to subscribe a small 
sum to purchase the "librettos" of their plays. The fol- 
lowing rules were signed by all the members : 

1. Each member of the club must take his or her turn in 
choosing a play, and in giving out the r61e of characters. 

2. Every member must take the characters given him, 
and do his best, unless he can exchange parts with some other 
member, with the consent of the one who selected the play. 

3. The one who selects the play has a right to the best 
character. 

4. The club shall meet once a week at the houses of 
members, in alphabetical rotation. 

5. Whenever any member is unable to take his part and 
cannot attend the meeting, he must provide some one to take 
his character. 

6. No new member can be admitted without the vote of 
the majority. 

7. Each member must study his or her part well, before 
meeting with the club. If any two, or several, should have 
difficult parts together, they must meet privately and practise 
them. 

At first, they merely read the plays ; but soon, they par- 
tially acted them, and found them increased in interest there- 
by. They always had their little librettos by them. Those 
who had ready memories rarely referred to them ; or a mere 
glance would be sufficient. Finally they dressed in character, 
and admitted an audience composed of their relatives. 

There is not necessarily anything awkward in having the 
books in hand. Such little pamphlets can be easily rolled up, 
and will scarcely be noticed. Under these rules they became 



CHARADES. 149 

familiar witli the best plays, without wearying of them ; and 
each member had an opportunity of consulting his own taste. 

I sincerely recommend this as an amusement. Persons 
who read French and German will find this an admirable way 
of learning to converse with ease in either of those languages. 

Sheridan Knowles' plays and Shakspeare are among the 
best to select from. "Love's Sacrifice," ''Ion," "Hunch- 
back," and "William Tell," ai-e excellent plays to be read 
in this way. 



CHAEADES. 

There is no game that can afford so much amusement to a 
circle of friends as that of acting charades. It affords a 
scope for the exercise of both wit and ingenuity. 

A word must be chosen, in which the syllables may be ren- 
dered into some kind of a lively performance, and the whole 
word must be capable of similar representation. Then the 
plan of action must be agreed upon. Old-fashioned gar- 
ments, gay shawls, scarfs, old coats, hats, aprons, gowns, 
&e., must be looked up for the occasion, and speedily con- 
verted into various and grotesque costumes, suited to the 
representation to be made. By exercising a little ingenuity, 
very fine charades can be acted "impromptu." Speed, in 
all preparations, is quite necessary to success, as an audience 
is always impatient. If it is determined to have charades at 
a party, the lady of the house should arrange dresses, plan of 
action and subjects, beforehand. She can generally tell who 
can assist her best. If all the arrangements can be made 
without the knowledge of her guests, the effect will be greatly 
increased. This is also an improvmg game for a family of 
children. Write the plot and a simple dialogue, and let them 
learn it ; it will be a good exercise for the memory, and teach 



150 DRAMATIC AMUSEMENTS. 

them ease of manner ; but let them only act before a home 
circle. 

A few directions for acting certain words, and a short list 
of words easy to be acted may be of service to my readers. 
If a word or syllable can be represented by action, it should 
be seldom spoken, but syllables must be spoken in some cases 
to give an idea of the word : 

Penitent. — " Penny " sufficiently expresses the first di- 
vision of the word. It can be represented by dressing in old 
clothes, torn hats, bonnets, &c., to appear as street hawkers, 
common in cities. One can sell " Lucifer matches — penny a 
bunch ! " another, "Apples, fine red apples— ^ penny apiece ! " 
another, " Oranges, fine fresh oranges — penny apiece !" and 
so on. In this way a motley group can be contrived. A 
policeman, rushing in and dispersing the group, may close 
the scene. " Tent " can be represented by throwing a sheet 
or table-cloth over two chairs (high-backed chau's would be 
preferable) , in the style of a gypsy tent. In front should be 
grouped gome gypsies, in gay shawls, handkerchiefs, looped 
dresses, &c. A lady and gentleman can ajDproach and ask 
to have their fortunes told, &o. Some one of the gypsies 
singing, " In the days when we went gypsyiug," would close 
this act well. " Penitent " can be easily represented in a 
variety of ways. If it is not guessed, the charade could be 
repeated and acted differently. 

Bridewell. — " Bride " is usually represented by a wed- 
ding,, which can be arranged to suit the tastes of the parties 
acting, and can be either simple or elaborate, as they may 
please. The common way is to have a dress ceremony ; bride 
in full costume, with bridesmaids, but for a change, one might 
arrange a justice's office, and have a couple come in to be 
married, the bride conspicuous in white bows and ends, and 
cheap finery. Let her be the chief speaker, the man appear- 
ing awkward and shy. After the ceremony, let her drive a 



CHARADES : ACTING OF WORDS. 151 

sharp bargain in paying the fee. " Well : " Take a large 
tub and cover it witb a gray sbawl, so arranged as to look 
like stone, and if you bave any green fleecy mats, arrange 
tbem to represent grass. A dark-complexioned gentleman, 
(any one can stain bis face for tbe occasion,) witb a turban, 
and dressed in sbawls skillfully arranged, may represent au 
Eastern Emu-. He sbould be seen seated Turkisb-fasbion by 
tbe well. A lady, dressed as Rebecca, witb a crimson scarf 
about ber waist, baving ber arms bare, and a bandkercbief 
bound around ber bead, sbould come in, bolding witb one arm 
a piteber on ber bead. Let ber seem to fill ber pitcber at tbe 
well. Tben Ebezer must ask ber to give Mm drink. After 
she bas banded Mm ber pitcber (wbicb sbe must bave placed 
on ber bead after baving appeared to fill it) , be must take 
from bis bosom a casket of jewels, and exbibit bracelets and 
ear-rings. Sbe can feign astomsbment and admiration. He 
must kneel at ber feet and present tbem. Sbe sbould express 
surprise and deligbt. Tben Eliezer must fasten on tbe brace- 
lets, and tbe scene of Eliezer and Rebecca at tbe loell will be 
represented. 

To act " Bridewell : " Arrange a prison cell ; take screens 
or clotbes-frames, and bang tbem witb gray or black sbawls, 
and cover tbe carpet. Put in a common wood table and a 
kitcben cbau% and let a dim-ligbted lantern be tbe only ligbt. 
Some gentleman, meanly clad, witb bair all on end; and 
clencbed bands resting on bis knees, must be seated in tbe 
cbair, witb eyes bent sullenly on tbe ground, and witb a 
scowHng brow. Let cbains bang from Ms wrists and ankles, 
and as be moves clank together. Acted in this way, the 
word would be easily guessed. 

Earewell. — "Eare:" A gentleman dressed as a back- 
man can come in, whip in hand. Tben a gentleman and lady 
and a cMld sbould appear, dressed for a journey. The back- 
man must address them in the usual manner, offering to take 



152 DEAMATIC AMUSEMENTS. 

them +0 any place, &c. The gentleman must then ask, 
"What is the ybtre?" and bargains for it, refusing to pay 
fare for the child, &c. "Well:" Two ladies enter with 
shawls and bonnets on, and appear to meet accidentally; 
each asks anxiously if the other is well, and if all the family 
are well, &c. 

" Farewell" can be acted in various ways. A party with 
bandboxes and baskets, on their way west, may be bidding 
farewell to friends ; or a lover, going to California, may be 
taking leave of his lady-love, &c. 

Railway. — " Rail : " Take two chairs, and place a strong 
cane, stick or broom, with one end resting on each chair. Then 
some boy or girl may come in and jump on the stick, swing 
over it, and talk about " riding on a raiV An elderly lady 
or gentleman should come in and talk to him about breaking his 
neck on the rail, &c., &e. " Way : " a gentleman with a car- 
pet bag in his hand may inquire the way to the depot, or an 
old lady may ask which is the way to the menagerie, &c, 
"Railway:" Let a party of people come rushing in, some 
limping and groaning, others wondering where their band- 
boxes have gone to! all talking of the " smash up" on the 
railway, bringing in the word in all possible ways. 

Carpet. — "Car:" several persons may pass in and out 
dressed in character, as a Yankee peddler, a country girl 
never before from home, a man of business, a fine lady with 
servants, &c., all appearing to be waiting for the ears, and 
talking about them. Suddenly let a bell ring, and the con- 
ductor call out, " Cars start for," etc. All then rush forward 
in character. "Pet:" Let a lady come in with a cat, dog 
or any "pet animal, fondling it as absurdly as possible, pre- 
tending it is sick, calling for some one to go for the doctor, &c. 
" Carpet : " Arrange a table as a counter. Some one must 
act as shop-man. Let a lady enter with a simpering air, her 
intended husband following, and ask to look at carpets. Have 



CHARADES : ACTING OP AVORDS. 153 

in readiness under the counter several pieces of carpets or 
rugs, which the shopman shotild display, while the lady con- 
sults the taste of her future lord, &c. 

Lunatic. — " Luna :" A gentleman, dressed as a young 
collegian, enters with a young lady on his arm ; they pretend 
to be walking by woow-light. He speaks of the moon by its 
latin name, Luna, and talks in a high-flown style. The lady 
may ask in a flat and awkward style, " Who is Luna? " say- 
ing she never heard of her, &c., &c. The young man ex- 
plains, in a bombastic style, who Luna is. "Tic:" A 
lady represents an old woman, and goes about offering to 
make over old tics, as good as new, and also says she has 
some geese feathers to sell, carrying on of course other con- 
versation, so that the word to be guessed may not be too ap- 
parent. " Lunatic : " The best actor of the company feigns 
the part of a lunatic, in any way he sees fit. 

Lamentable. — (French charade.) "L'amont" can be 
acted well in pantomime, by representing an old deaf man, 
and his young wife; the old man with spectacles on nose, 
sitting in a large chair, reading the newspaper, his young 
wife standing behind the chair. A low tap is heard at the 
door. She starts and listens ; the door opens slily and dis- 
covers a young man. She starts with delight, but points to 
the old man, motioning the young man to go. He makes 
gestures of despair ; then appears to have a sudden thought, 
bows and retires. Soon a loud knock is heard, she goes to 
the door, and returns with a letter, giving it to the old man ; 
he reads, shakes his head, and hands it to her ; she looks at 
it, runs for his hat and coat and motions him to go. He 
leaves at one door, while L'Aman enters at another. Then 
they act a lover like scene and the curtain drops. " Table : " 
She again appears with sleeves rolled up, apron on, rolling- 
pin in hand, making cakes ; the young lover standing by, and 
now and then eating one of the cakes. They hear a heavy 

7* 



154 DRAMATIG AMUSEMENTS. 

step and the lover runs for a Hding-place. At last lie springs 
under the table, and she pulls a table-cloth down around it, 
and goes on rolling cakes. In comes the old man, hobbling 
along. He looks around and suspects something, and begins 
a strict search. Thus ends that scene. "Lamentable:" 
The same actors appear, but the table is turned over, and be- 
hold ! the old man has seized the young lover, and is brand- 
ishing aloft a heavy cane, while the young wife appears, weep- 
ing bitterly. 

Warlock. — (A male wizard.) "War:" A wounded 
soldier is seen prostrate and dying. "Lock:" An old wo- 
man with a long tow wig, sits mumbling to herself, and knit- 
ting. A young man appears and pretends entire devotion to 
her, and begs for a loch of her hair. She refuses at first, but 
he coaxes it from her. She then takes out a large pair of 
shears and cuts off a long loch, rolls it up and gives it to him. 
He pretends ecstasy, but laughs behind her back. " War- 
lock:" A gentleman dressed as an old wizard, appears and 
offers to tell fortunes, &c.; this can be performed as the actor 
thinks best. 

The following words are easy to be acted ; — 

Back-bite. Bond-age. Brace-let. 

Com-fort. Ann-ounce. In-firm. 

In-fan-tile. Sin-cere. Spec-tacles. 



TABLEAUX VIVANTS. 
Tableau vivants, as commonly represented, are so well un- 
derstood that no directions are necessary, but some of mjy 
readers may not have heard of the illustration of poems, &c., 
by a series of living pictures. This is far more interesting 
than simply to personify some one picture. Still anotiher way 



TABLEAUX VIVANTS. 155 

is to represent tlie different scenes in a song, wMle at the 
same time some one who is a good musician sings the verses 
of the song as they are represented. For instance, "The 
Mistletoe Bough," first represent a room decorated with green, 
a company assembled gaily dressed and dancing, while a lady 
or gentleman behind the scene sings the verse represented in 
distinct tones, and so on through the whole song; the last 
scene representing children in a lumber-room opening an old 
chest and exposing a skeleton, old flowers, &c. "Auld 
Kobin Grey," and "The Three Fishers" are easily repre- 
sented. StUl another variety of tableaux is a song repre- 
sented in pantomime, for instance, the song of " Blue Beard," 
or "0, they Marched through the Town," &c. 




Tlie Sibyl. 




OKTUNE TELLING, as a practice, is mor- 
^^ ally wrong, and they wlio intentionally de- 
ceive credulous people commit a sin ; the effects 
of such deception on sensitive minds are often 
lasting, and in some instances have been at- 
tended with very sad results. Almost all per- 
sons have a little superstition in their natures, 
and naturally relish mystery. 

But as a game and pastime, fortune telling 
is harmless and amusing. The old fashioned fate lady has 
afforded much amusement and profit at fairs. The following 
is a more modern and graceful method: Cut green enam- 
eled paper in the shape of oak leaves, and on the white side 
write some simple oracle. The person who represents the 
sibyl seats herself, dressed in character, under a tasteful can- 
opy, with a table in front, and her sibylline leaves scattered 
over it, with the green side upwards. Then as individuals 
enquire their fate of the oracle, let her move about the leaves, 
muttering some incantation, and let each one select his or her 
own leaf. Another way is to hold the leaves in a cornucopia 
and scatter them around from it. Care must be taken not to 
expose the white side of the leaves. 



THE FIAT or FATE. 



157 




THE FIAT OF FATE. 

Make twelve flat pin-cusMong, 
heart-shape, and all of different col- 
ors, such as blue, variegated, white, 
scarlet, green,, lilac, checkered, 
brown, slate, purple, yellow and 
pink. Have a loop of narrow rib- 
bon fastened to each, and stick 
small pins all around them as in 
the design. Take some narrow rib- 
bon and string them all upon it; 
they are then ready to be used, with the following oracles : 

TU Fiat ixt Fat^. 

To all who wisli their fate to know, 
These hearts will future fortunes show ; 
With shaded eyes then touch and name — 
The color wiU thy lot proclaim. 

BLUE. 
If fortune favors thee, wish blue, 
Thou couldst not wish a brighter hue ; 
On hfe's dark disc this shade portrays 
Truth, happiness, and length of days. 



VARIEGATED. 
These variegated colors show 
A pleasing mixture here below, 
To those whose lot it is to name. 
This emblem, of both joy and pain. 

WHITE. 
This lovely Avliite then touch with joy. 
And gain a fate without alloy ; 
Fair, pure and spotless is the life 
Thus singled out from future strife. 



158 THE SIBYL. 

SCARLET. 

With caution this gay color name. 
For wide and evil is its fame ; 
Inflammatory, it taints the air. 
Portending strife and civil war. > 

GKEEN. 
This cool, inviting, lovely green, 
Has to the single ever been 
An emblem of their future state, 
Their peaceful, though forsaken, fate. 

LILAC. 
The lilac tint betokens life 
Of every hope, and plans are rife ; 
Of love and friendship, holy, true, 
The pink is tempered by the blue. 

CHECKEKED. 
The many colors here portrayed. 
Of every hue, and every shade. 
Portends a checkered changing lot. 
Prom palace to the humble cot. 

BROWN. 

This sombre brown denotes a calm 
And pleasing life, devoid of harm ; 
An innocent and simple mind, 
A temper meek and well inchned. 

SLATE. 

This pale and melancholy shade 
Betokens ills that never fade ; 
But prey upon the tainted power. 
Embittering each succeeding hour. 

PURPLE. 
This royal color, rich in pride, 
A splendid fate may well betide ; 
Exalted rank and riches great. 
Vanity, power, pomp and state. 



FLOWER FATE: FATE BOX. 159 

YELLOW. 
Beware of yellow, 'tis a color 
Speaks of misery, grief and dolor; 
Of jealousy, and broken vows, 
And many nameless, endless woes. 

PINK. 
A Kfe of innocence and mirth 
Will be thy portion here on earth ; 
With reason, then, you may rejoice. 
The modest pink has been your choice. 



FLOWEE FATE. 

Procure a quantity of cards, each witli a separate flower 
painted upon it. In a book write the meaning of each 
flower, and then let a person choose any numher of cards. 
You must look out the meaning of each, and ingeniously 
combine the whole into one sentence. A more beautiful de- 
sign for a fair or a social party is the arrangement of natural 
flowers in small fate bouquets, some one person arranging 
their accompanying oracles beforehand. Then let the person 
seeking to know his fate select a bouquet. 



FATE BOX. 

Write a number of fates and fill a box, made with an 
opening just large enough to admit the hand. Then, as the 
person seeks his fortune, shake up the box, and let him draw 
out his fate. 




\ 



The Puzzler. 




HE following comindrums, riddles, etc., are 
given merely as suggestions. The conun- 
drums most productive of amusement are 
those made in the course of general conver- 
sation. A happy party, in the course of a 
long and stormy evening, vmay make more 
and better ones than are to be found in any 
one book. If .those given here (attract the 
attention and excite the ingenuity of the boys 

and girls who read them, a great deal of homff pleasure will 

be the result. 



CONUNDKUMS. 

1. If a man's son had told a lie, and he wished to order 
him, in the shortest way possible, to leave him, ^what Scrip- 
ture name would he use ? 

2. What relation would a man be to a person he visited 
in jail, if, on being asked, he said, "Brothers and sisters 
have I none, yet this man's father is my father's son?" 

3. Why had the children of Israel plenty of food in the 
desert ? 



CONUNDEUMS. 161 

4. Why were there plenty of sandwiches in the desert i 

5. Why is a short negro like a white man ? 

6. Why do we all go to bed ? 

7. Why is a room full of married people like an empty 



room 



8. Why is an angry person like a hard baked loaf of 
bread ? 

9. When is a door not a door ? 

10. Why is a man in love like a lobster ? 

11. Why is an avaricious man like one with a short 
memory ? 

12. Why is a pair of pantaloons too big every way like 
two populous towns in France ? 

13. You are requested to ask the following question in 
three letters : " Are you the person? " 

14. What sea would make the best bedroom ? 

15. Which are ladies most in favor of, tall or short men? 

16. Why is a speech, delivered on the deck of a man-of- 
war, like a lady's necklace ? 

17. Why is the letter D like a sailor ? 

18. Why is grass like a mouse? 

19. Why is a bald head like heaven? 

20. What two letters make a County in Massaehusetts ? 

21. , Why is an angry man like a lady in full dress? 

22. Why is a good wife like the evil one ? 

23. Why is a good story like a parish bell ? 

24. Why were the brokers of 1857 like Pharaoh's 
daughter? 

25. Why is there but little difference between a light in 
a cavern and a dance in the hall of a tavern ? 

26. By what three Bible names would a mother call her 
three sons, in telling them to go home with some young ladies 
in a carriage ? The first she spoke to in an enquiring tone ; 
the second, entreating ; the third, commanding ? 



162 THE PUZZLER. 

27. Who was the fastest woman in the Bible ? 

28. How did Adam and Eve leave Paradise ? 

29. Why was not Noah a good mouser ? 

30. Why are camel's hair shawls in this country like a 
stone deaf person ? 

31. In what way would you ask a Doctor of Divinity to 
play on a violin, in the shortest possible way ? 

32. Why is an odd walker easiest recognized at his own 
door ? 

33. Why is the gray hair of a person who has had many 
trials like a plated spoon ? 

34. Why is a sword like lager beer ? 



ENIGMAS, CHARADES AND RIDDLES. 

1. My first is a common London cry, 
My next an insect ; now try 

To guess my whole ; a clue I'll give, though slight, 
It oft emits my first, a glorious sight. 

2. We are twin brothers, and in vain, 
"We never meet but to complain. 

8. My first implies to be able, 

My second is a Christian name which may be read both 

ways, 
My whole is in North America. 

4. My first may be seen, and my second be heard ; 
■ My whole is the name of a sweet-singing bird. 

5. By me men often upward go. 
Behead — a reptile it will show. 

6. A word of four letters I pray you to take ; 

If that word you follow, 'twill sure make you ache ; 
Just alter that word, and squeeze out one letter ; 
Then follow that word, and 'twill soon make you better. 



ENIGMAS, CHARADES AND RIDDLES. 163 

7. My first in eveiy shop is seen, 
My next affords us light ; 

My total you will see, I ween, 
When you've bade friends good-night. 

8. My first sounds much hke something true. 

My second sounds much hke a lie ; 
But what is spoken like my whole, 
jLet no one venture to deny. 

9. To a word of consent add one half of a fright. 
Next subjoin what you never behold in the night ; 
These rightly comiected, you'll quickly obtain 
What miUions have seen, but Avill ne'er see again. 

10. Found long ago, yet made to-day. 

Employed while others sleep ; 
What few would wish to give away. 
And none would wish to keep. 

11. Two hundred men and Avomen sitting, 
Talking, reading, sleeping, knitting ; 
Boston, Lynn, Salem, Andover, 

In, out, under, over ; 
Tugging, hugging, dreaming, screaming, 
» Kain, or snow, or sunshine beaming ; 
Buzz and stir, smoke and hissing. 
Often ends with hearty kissing, 

12. My first is to hard-working horses oft spoken ; 
My second, of sudden surprise is a token ; 
My third is a place we shall do well to shun ; 
My fourth is a river, which in Scotland doth run ; 
My half is an order to quit, you will find ; 

My whole is an idol set up by mankind. 

13. In every hedge my second is, 

As well as every tree ; 
And when poor school-boys act amiss. 

It often is their fee. 
My first, hkewise, is always wicked. 

Yet ne'er committed sin ; 
My total for my first is fitted. 

Composed of brass or tin. 



164 THE PUZZLER. 

14. My first is a part of the day, 

My second at feasts overflows ; 
In the cottage my whole is oft seen. 
To measure old Time as he goes. 

15. If you a musical instrument behead, 

A sweeter-toned one will remain behind. 

16. A shining wit pronounced of late 
That every acting magistrate 

Is water, in a freezing state. 

17. In spring, I am gay in my attire ; 

In summer I wear more clothing than in spring 
In winter, I am naked. 

18. A word of three syllables, seek till you find, 
That has in it the twenty-six letters combined. 

19. A lady in prison received an animal, as a present 
from her niece, which signified to her, " Make your escape." 
In reply, she sent back a fruit, which imported, "It is im- 
possible to escape." What was the animal? and what was 
the fruit? 

20. In Sir Walter Scott's celebrated poem, "Marmion," 
are the following lines : — 

" Charge, Chester ! charge ! On, Stanley, on ! 
Were the last words of Marmion." 

These lines suggested the following enigma : — 

Were I in noble Stanley's place. 
When Marmion urged him to the charge ; 
The word you then might all descry 
Would bring a tear to every eye. 

21. Eound the house — in the corners, 
Down the stairs — behind the door ! 

22. I'm reckoned only fifty, but for centuries have been, 
In every age, in every clime, among the living seen ; 
Mute, though incessantly in talk, I give to silence sound ; 
And single 'tis my fate to be, whilst fast in wedlock bound. 
The learned place me at their head, tho' oft unknown to fame, 
And eloquence itself delights to sound abroad my name ; 



ENIGMAS, CHARADES AND RIDDLES. 165 

Though plunged in guilt, the tenant of a prison's gloomy cell, 
Yet, twice invoked, my potent aid concludes the wizard's spell. 
I ride upon the whirlwind — point the lightning thro' the storm ; 
And mine the power, with but a word, another world to form ; 
I, too, alone, can kindle fame, and, what is very odd, 
The veriest miser can prevent from making gold liis god. 
I usher in the morning, yet shun the face of day ; 
A stranger to the voice of mirth, yet join in every play. 
The fabled liquid I, with which poor Tantalus was cursed ; 
For, in the proffered goblet seen, I mock the wretch's thirst. 
The rich secure me for their wealth, the cunning for their wiles ; 
And, 'reft of me, ah ! changed how soon were beauty's sweetest 

smiles ! 
I lurk within the brilliant glance that flashes from her eye, 
Best on heir ruby lip, and in her laughing dimples lie ; 
I breathe the first soft sound of love, in the maiden's willing ear, 
And mingle in the rising blush that tells that love is dear ; 
I lead the laugh, I swell the glee amid the festal hall. 
But a truant from the banquet, and a laggard in the ball. 
First in the martial lists I ride, with mail, and lance and shield ; 
And, foremost of the line, I charge upon the battle-field. 
And yet, though ranked among the bold, I scarcely join the fight ; 
When, foul disgrace to manhood's race, I turn at once to flight. 
From greatness thus removed, I make acquaintanceship with evil ; 
And, (in your ear a word) maintain alliance with the devil ! 

23. We are little airy creatures, 

AJl of different voice and natures ; 
One of us in glass is set. 
One of us you'll find in jet ; 
The other you may see in tin. 
And the fourth a box within ; 
If the fifth you should pursue. 
It can never fly from you. 

24. My parent bred me to the sea, 

I've been where never man could be ; 
Long time I've ranged the ocean wide. 
And all the rage of storms defied ; 
The lowering clouds obscured the sky. 
And foaming billows mounted high ; 
Tho' winds with almost fury blew, 



166 THE rUZZLEE. 

And thunders roll'd, and lightnings flew ; 
Waves, winds and thunders all in vain 
Opposed my passage thro' the main. 
At length, my parent died, and I 
On shore would fain my fortune try ; 
I left the sea, grew fond of show, 
Dress'd neat, and soon became a heaiu. 
My body's taper, tall and straight, 
I chiefly dwell among the great ; 
Am like a bridegroom, clad in white, 
And much the ladies I delight ; 
Attend when Chloe goes to rest, 
She's always by my presence blest ; 
No ghost or goblin can she fear, 
Nor midnight hag, if I am near. 
No more a seaman, bold and rough, 
• I shine at baUs, am fond of snuff" • 
To gay assemblies I repair. 
And make a brilliant figure there. 
At last, a burning fever came. 
That quite dissolved my tender frame ; 
I wasted fast, light-headed grew ; 
Of all my friends, not one I knew ; 
Great drops of sweat ran down my side, 
And I, alas ! by inches died. 

25. A word there is of plural number, 
Foe to peace and tranquil slumber ; . 
Add but to this the letter S, 

And though strange the metamorphosis. 
There soon will meet your wond'ring view 
One syllable transposed to two ; 
Plural is plural now no moi-e. 
And sweet what bitter was before. 

26. My first two letters make a man. 
My three first a woman ; 

My four first letters make a great man 
My whole a great woman. 

27. My first is myself, a very short word ; 

My second's a puppet, and you are my thitd. 



I 



ENIGMAS, CHARADES AND RIDDLES. 167 

28. Cut off my head, singular I am ; 

Cut off my tail, and plural I appear ; 
Cut off my head and tail, and you wiU find 

That though my body's left, yet nought is there. 
What is my head cut off 1 a sounding sea ; 

Wliat is my tail 1 a mighty river. 
Within whose peaceful depths my whole doth play. 

And parent of sweet sounds is mute forever. 

29. We left our little ones at home, 

And whither went we did not know ; 
We for the church's sake did roam. 

And lost our hves in doing so. 
We went right onward on the road. 

With all the wicked full in view ; 
We hved to man, we died to God, 

Yet nothing of religion knew. 
80. My first is a famous watering place in England, 

My second is a city where a mighty queen did dwell ; 
My whole is the name of a queen famous in ancient 
liistory. 

31. My first gives light to man ; 

My second you'll find in woman ; 
My third belongs to woman ; 
My whole is a Christian name. 

32. To run and draw. 
In peace or war. 

My first have long been used ; 

And pleased or vex'd. 

Have, by my next. 
Been petted and abused : 

Upon the seas. 

In many a breeze. 
My third may oft be seen ; 

My whole is an art 

Known in each part 
Where my two first have been. 
83. My whole is that which lightning does, 

Beheaded, that which horses fear ; 
Behead again, and lo ! a tree, 

A forest tree, will then appear. 



168 



THE PtlZZLEB, 



^n Zni^mMk^l Wttimt, 




DESSERT. 



169 



Ifjessjett* 




170 THE PUZZLEE. 



PAEADOXES AND PUZZLES. 

1. A CAPTAIN of a ship who was driven out to sea by a 
heavy storm, found he had provisions sufficient for only half his 
crew, and decided to throw overboard half of them, to be se- 
lected by lot. There were twenty men, half of them white, 
and half black ; he placed them all in a circle, saying that 
every fifth man in three times round should be thrown over- 
board. He appeared to arrange them carelessly, yet he man- 
aged so that the lot fell to the ten black men. How could it be ? 

2. The Wolf, the Goat and the Callages. — Suppose a 
man has a wolf, a goat, and a basket of cabbages, on the bank 
of a river ; he wishes to cross with them, but his boat can only 
hold one of the three beside himself. He must therefore take 
them over one by one, in such a manner that the wolf shall 
have no opportunity to devour the goat, nor the goat the cab- 
bages. How is he to accomplish it ? 

3. The impossibility made possible. — Place three pieces 
of money on the table and desire some person to take away 
the piece from the centre without touching it. 

4. Two men eat oysters together for a wager, to see who 
could eat the greatest number. One eat ninety-nine only, the 
other eat a hundred and loon. How many did the winner 
eat? 

5. What is the difference between six dozen dozen and a 
half a dozen dozen ? 

6. Four people sat doAvn one evening to play ; 
They played all that eve, and parted next day. 

Could you think, when you're told, as thus they all sat, 
No other played with them, nor Avas there one bet ; 
Yet, when they rose up, each gained a guinea, 
Tho' none of them lost to the amount of a penny ! 



PAEADOXES AND PUZZLES. 



171 



7. PKSVRYPRFCTMNVRKPTHSP 
R C P T S T N. This inscription was affixed to the com- 
munion-table of a small churcli in Wales ; no one could deci- 
pher it for centuries, but at length the clue has been discov- 
ered. What is it? 

8. Procure six cards, and having ruled them as in the 
following diagrams, write in the figures neatly and legibly. 
It is required to tell the number thought of by any person, 
the numbers being contained in the cards, and not to exceed 
60. How is this done ? 



3 
13 

25 


5 
15 

27 


7 

17 
29 


9 

la 

31 


11 
21 
33 


1 
23 
35 


37 


39 


41 


45 


43 


47 


49 


51 


53 


55 


57 


59 



9 


10 


11 


12 


13 


8 


14 


15 


24 


25 


26 


27 


28 


29 


30 


31 


40 


41 


42 


43 


44 


45 


46 


47 


56 


57 


58 


59 


60 


13 



17 


18 


19 


20 


21 


16 


22 


23 


24 25 


26 


27 


28 


29 


30 


31 


48 


49 


50 
56 


51 

57 


52 

58 


53 

59 


54 
30 


55 
60 



5 


6 


7 


13 


12 


4 


14 


15 


20 


21 


22 


23 


28 


29 


30 


31 


36 


37 


52 
47 


38 
53 


39 
54 


44 

55 


45 

60 


46 
13 




3 


6 


7 


10 


11 2 


14 

28 


15 

27 


18 
30 


19 
31 


22 

34 


23 
35 


38 
50 


39 
51 


42 
54 


43 

55 


46 

58 


47 
59 




33 


34 


35 


36 


37 


32 


38 
44 


39 
45 


40 
46 


41 

47 


42 
48 


43 
49 


50 


51 


52 


53 


54 


55 


•66 


57 


58 


59 


60 


41 



172 



THE PUZZLER. 



9. Place eight counters or coins, as in the diagram below : 



It is then required to lay them in four couples, removing only 
one at a time, and in each removal passing the one in the 
hand over two on the table. 

10. The wine Merchant and his Cleric. — A wine mer- 
chant caused thirty-two casks of choice wines to be deposited 
in his cellar, giving orders to his clerk to arrange them as in 
the annexed figure, so that each external row 
should contain nine. The clerk, however, took 
away twelve of them, at three different times — 
that is, four at each time, yet when the mer- 
chant went into the cellar, after each theft had 
been committed, the clerk always made him 
count nine in each row. How was this possible ? 



man's family. 



17 1 
7 7 

17 1 




12. First draw a 
square and divide it into 
four parts. Then make 
six marks in the first 
square and say they rep- 
resent six pigs, for you 
pretend to describe a farm- 
yard you once saw. In 
the next square make six more marks to represent cows, in 
the next square six more marks for horses, and the last square 
represent donkeys. 



AEITHMETICAL PROBLEMS. 173 



AEITHMETICAL PROBLEMS. 

1. An old man married a young woman; their united 
ages amounted to one hundred. The man's age, multiplied 
by four and divided hy nine, gives the woman's age. What 
were their respective ages ? 

2. How many yards of paper, three-quarters of a yard 
wide, will cover a chamber that is sixty feet round, and ten 
feet one and one-half inches high ? 

3. In a family of eight young people, it was a^eed that 
three at a time should visit the Crystal Palace, and that the 
visit should be repeated each day as long as a different trio 
could be selected. In how many days were the possible com- 
binations of three out of eight completed ? 

4. How many changes can be given to seven notes of a 
piano ? That is to say, in how many ways can seven keys be 
struck in succession, so that there shall be some difference in 
the order of the notes each time ? 

5. At a time when eggs were scarce, an old woman who 
possessed some good hens, wishing to oblige her friends, sent 
her daughter with a basket of eggs to three of them ; at the 
first house, which was the squire's, she left half the number 
of eggs she had, and half a one over ; at the second she left 
half of what remained and half an egg over ; and at the third 
she again left half of the remainder, and half a one over ; she 
carried home one egg in her basket, not having broken any. 
How many had she when she started ? 

6. Two drovers, A and B, meeting on the road, began 
discoursing about the number of sheep they each had. Says 
B to A, " Pray give me one of your sheep and I will have 
as many as you." "Nay," rephed A, "but give me one 
of your sheep and I will have as many again as you." Be- 
quired to know the number of sheep they each had ? 



174 THE PUZZLER. 

7. To tell at what hour a person intends to rise. Let the 
person set the hand of the dial of a watch at any hour he 
pleases, and tell you what that hour is ; and to the number 
of that hour you add in your mind twelve ; then tell him to 
count privately the number of that amount upon the dial, be- 
ginning with the next hour to that on which he proposes to 
rise, and counting backwards, first reckoning the number of 
the hour at which he has placed the hand. How is it done ? 

8. Two travelers trudged along the road together, 
Talking, as Yankees do, about the weather ; 
When, lo ! beside their path the foremost spies 
Three casks, and loud exclaims, " A prize, a prize ! " 
One large, two small, but all of various size. 
This way and that they gazed, and aU. around, 
Each wondering if an owner might be found. 
But not a soul was there — the coast was clear — 
So to the barrels they at once drew near ; 
And both agree, whatever may be there, 
In friendly partnership they'll fairly share. 
Two they found empty, but the other full, 
And straightway from his pocket one doth puU 
A large clasp-knife ; a heavy stone lay handy, . 

And thus in time they found their prize was brandy. 
'Tis tasted and approved ; their lips they smack. 
And each pronounces 'tis the famous Cognac. 
" Wont we have many a joUy night, my boy 1 
May no iU luck our present hopes destroy ! ' 
Twas fortunate one knew the mathematics, 
And had a smattering of hydrostatics ; 
Then measured he the casks, and said, " I see 
This is eight gallons — those are five, and three." 
The question then was how they might divide 
The brandy, so that each should be supplied 
With just four gallons, neither less nor'more. 
With eight, and five and three, they puzzle sore ; 
rilled up the five, fiUed up the three, in.vain. 
At length a happy thought came o'er the brain 



ANSWEES TO CONUNDRUMS. 175 

Of one ; 'twas done, and each went home content. 
And their good dames declared 'twas excellent. 
With those three casks they made division true ; 
I fomid the puzzle out ; say, friend, can youl 

9. " To five and five and fifty-five 
The first of letters add ; 
It is a thing that pleased a king, 
And made a wise man mad." 

10. " The sum of four figures in value will he 

Above seven thousand nine hundred and three ; 
But when they are halved you'll find, very fair. 
The sum will be nothing, in truth, I declare." 



ANSWEES TO CONUNDEUMS. 

1. GOLIAH. 

2. He was Ids own son. 

3. Because of the sand which is (sandwiches) there. 

4. Because the children of Ham were bred (bread) and 
mustered (mustard) there. 

5. He is not at all black (a tall black). 

6. The bed will not come to us. 

7. There is not a single person in it. 

8. He is crusty. 

9. When it is ajar. 

10. He had a lady in his head. 

11. ' He is always forgetting (for-getting). 

12. Because they are too long and too loose (Toulon and 
Toolouse) . 

13. RUE (are you he). 

14. Adriatic (a dry attic). 

15. Hymen. 

16. It is a deck oration (decoration). 

17. It follows the sea (C). 



1T6 THE PUZZLER. 

18. The cat'U eat it (the cattle eat it). 

19. There is no parting there. 

20. S X (Essex). 

21. He is ruffled. 

22. She sows tares while the husbandman sleeps. 

23. It is often told (tolled). 

24. Because they found little profit (prophet) in the 
rushes on the banks. 

25. Because one is a taper in a cavern, the other a caper 
in a tavern. 

26. Jeroboam, Samuel, Benjamin (Jerry beau 'em; Sam 
you will; Ben jam in). 

27. Herodias' daughter, because she got ahead of John 
the Baptist on a charger. 

28. They were snaked out. 

29. It took him forty days and nights to find Ara-rat. 

30. Because we can not make them here (hear) 

31. Fiddle-de-dee (Fiddle D D). 

32. Because he is best known by his gait (gate^ 

33. " Its silvered o'er with care." 

34. Because it cannot be used till it is drawn. 



ANSWERS TO ENIGMAS AND CHARADES. 

1. FiRE-FLT. 

2. Mur-mur 

3. Canada. 

4. Sky-lark. 

5. Ladder — adder. 

6. Fast— Feast. 

7. Counter-pane. 

8. Truly. 



ANSWER TO AN ENIGMATICAL DINNER. 177 



9. 


Yesterday. 


10. 


Abed. 


11. 


Kailway train. 


12. 


Gold. 


13. 


Candle-stick. 


14. 


Hour-glass. 


15. 


Flute. 


16. 


Justice, (just-ice.) 


17. 


A tree. 


18. 


Alphabet. 


19. 


The animal sent was an antelope, (aunt elope !) the 


fruit returned was a cantelope (can't elope.) 


20. 


On I on, (onion.) 


21. 


Broom. 


22. 


The letter L. 


23. 


The vowels. 


24. 


A spermaceti candle. 


25. 


Cares — s. 


26. 


Heroine. 


27. 


Idol. 


28. 


Cod. 


29. 


The kine that bore the ark. 1 Samuel, vi. , 10, 12, 14. 


30. 


Bathsheba. 


. 31. 


Solomon. 


32. 


Horse-man-ship. 


33. 


Flash. 




^xiBwet iix $lnigmatii:!al Wxnnj^t, 


1. 


Turkey. 


2. 


Parsnips. 


3. 


Hare, (hair.) 


4. 


Dandelion, (dandy-lion.) 


5. 


Lamb. 


6. 


Mint-sauce. 



178 THE PUZZLER. 

7. Tongue. 

8. Mangoes. 

9. Potatoes. 

10. Ham. 

11. Cabbage. 

1. Ice cream. 

2. Maderia, (wine.) 

3. Whips. 

4. Champagne, (sham-pain.) 

5. Punch. 

6. Brandy. 

7. Pine-apples. 

8. Hock. 

9. Pears. 

10. Trifle. 

11. Currants. 



ANSWERS TO PARADOXES AND 
PUZZLES. 

1. The secret of the puzzle is to arrange the men by a 
simple formula; take the sentence, "A gray owl did eat a 
snake," and arrange them with checkers, the vowels all black, 
the consonants white. You will then see by taking away 
every fifth one, three times round, those left will be all white. 

2. First take over the goat, the next time the wolf ; leav- 
ing the wolf he must bring back the goat and leave it, then 
take the cabbages, and going back once more he takes the 
goat. Thus the wolf will never be left with the goat, nor the 
goat with the cabbages. 

3. If the secret be not discovered, remove one of the end 
pieces to the other side, thus you take away the piece from the 
centre without touching it. 



ANSWEES TO PARADOXES AND PUZZLES. 179 

4. One hundred. 

5. 792 ; six dozen dozen being 864, and a half a dozen 
dozen 72. 

6. Four merry fiddlers played all night 
To many a dancing ninny ; 

And the next morning went away, 
And each received a guinea. 

7. Persevere ye perfect men. 
Ever keep these precepts ten. 

It was discovered that by using the vowel E this couplet 
was formed. 

8. Request the person to give you aU the cards contain- 
ing the number he has fixed upon, and then add all the right 
hand upper corner figures together, which will give the correct 
answer. For example : suppose 10 is the number thought of, 
the cards with 2 and 8 in the corners will be given, which 
makes the answer 10. 

9. Place 4 on 7, 6 on 2, 1 on 3, and 8 on 5, or 5 on 2, 
3 on 7, 8 on 6, 4 on 1, &c. 

10. The clerk arranged them thus : 



25 2 3331 414 

5 5 3 3 11 



252 33'3 414 



11. Be above meddling in a man's family. 

12. In the last square you must only make five marks, 
and then ask the one you are talking to, to count and see if 
all are right; if you do it carelessly and he is ofi'his guard he 
will probably say " one of the donkeys are wanting." You 
then must shly say, " If you'll jump in, all will be right." 
Such simple " sells " often cause a good laugh. 



180 THE PUZZLEE. 



ANSWEES TO AEITHMETICAL PKOB- 
LEMS. 

1. The man's age was 69 years and 12 weeks. The wo- 
man's, 30 years and 40 weeks. 

2. 90 yards. 

3. Multiply 8x7x6, and also 3x2 xl, and divide the 
product of the former, 336, by the product of the latter, 6, 
the result is 56, the number of visits, a different two going 
each time. 

4. 7x6x5x4x3x2x1, result is 5,040, the number 
of changes. 

5. 15 eggs. 

6. A had seven and B had five sheep. 

7. Suppose the hour he intends to rise be 8, and that he 
has placed the hand at 5 ; you will add 12 to 5 and tell him 
to count 17 on the dial first reckoning 5, the hour at which 
the index stands, and counting backwards from the hour at 
which he intends to rise ; and the number, 17, will necessarily 
end at 8, which shows that to be the hour he chose to rise. 

8. The five-gallon barrel was filled first, and from that the 
three-gallon barrel, thus leaving two gallons in the five-gal- 
lon barrel ; the three-gallon barrel was then emptied into the 
eight-gallon barrel, and the two gallons poured from the five- 
gallon barrel into the empty three-gallon barrel ; the five-gal- 
lon barrel was then fiUed, and one gallon poured into the 
three-gallon barrel, therefore leaving four gallons in the five- 
gallon barrel, one gallon in the eight-gallon barrel, and three 
gallons in the three-gallon barrel, which was then emptied into 
the eight-gallon barrel. Thus each person had four gallons 
of brandy in the eight and five-gallon barrels respectively. 

9. This puzzle has as yet no answer. I trust some of the 



ANSWERS TO ARITHMETICAL PROBLEMS. 181 

readers of tMs book will be able to send us a correct answer. 
It most surely can be ascertained, as there is a way to solve it. 
10. The four figures are 8 8 8 8, which being divided by 
a line drawn through the middle, become 8828 ' The sum 
of which is eight Os, or nothing. 




Grames for Old and 
Young. 




LIND MAN'S BUFF is a popular, old- 
>fasliioned and delightful pastime, too well 
known to render any description of it neces- 
>sary. A more quiet variety of blind man's 
' buff is played in the following manner : All 
ithe company arrange themselves around the 
room, one being blinded in the centre. Some 
one then either numbers them, or calls them 
by the names of diflEerent towns or cities. 
Each one must remember the name given him. 
Then the one who named them calls out to any two in the 
party, such as : "Two and Ten change places," or, "Bos- 
ton go to New York," &c. Those called must quickly ex- 
change places (on pain of a forfeit it they do not) , the one 
blinded trying to catch them on their way. The caller must 
make them change places often, and from distant sides of the 
room, so as to give the blinder a good chance. If he catches 
■any one in the act of changing his place, and calls his name 
correctly, the person so caught must take the part of blind- 
man until, in turn, he catches somebody else. 



SHADOW BUFF: BLIND MAN'S BUFF. 183 

SHADOW BUFF. 

Shadow Buff is a variation of blind man's buff. Though 
not as generally known, it is equally amusing. A large 
piece of white cloth, or a linen or cotton sheet, is suspended 
smoothly at one end of the room, at a little distance from 
"Buffy," who sits with his face towards the cloth, and his 
back to the company. Behind him a light must be po placed 
as to throw the shadows of persons passing between it and 
" Buffy " directly on the curtain. All other lights must be 
extinguished. The players then walk, one by one, slowly 
between the light and "Bufiy" (who must not turn his 
head), limping, jumping, grimacing, or disguised as they 
please, so as to distort their shadows on the curtain. If 
"Buffy" can tell correctly to whom any shadow belongs 
(guessing once only at each person) , the player whom he 
so discovers takes his place as " Buffy." 



BLIND MAN'S WAND. 

This is another variety of the same game. The blind 
man carries a cane, which he reaches in every direction. 
"Whoever it touches is bound, by the rules of the game, to 
take hold of it, and repeat whatever the blind man orders. 
The one who is caught can disguise his voice as he pleases. 
The blind man is allowed three guesses, and if he cannot dis- 
cover the person touched by his voice, he must try another. 
This is an amusing change. 

There is still another, called " Fettered Buff." The per- 
son who is to catch his companions is not blinded, but his 
wrists are tied behind him, and he catches by running back- 



184 GAMES FOR OLD AND YOUNG. 

wards. This form of the game is not reconamended. The 
person so bound cannot balance himself easily, or guard him- 
self, and is liable to injury from falling. 



CHINESE SHADOWS. 

This can be played only in the evening, by candle light. 
A white curtain should be fastened smoothly at one end of 
the room, as in " shadow buff." Half the company must be 
spectators and half actors. The spectators must be seated 
facing the curtain. Two persons in front should hold a rib- 
bon or stick across the curtain as high as they can easily 
reach, to mark the line on which the shadows are to move, or 
a line may be drawn across the curtain. The actors must 
stand behind the spectators, at a little distance, with a large 
supply of figures cut in paper, such as houses, trees, men, 
women, animals, birds, &c. These figures must be slowly 
passed along, one after the other, in the manner you wish the 
shadows to fall on the curtain. It is easy to make them ad- 
vance, retreat, &c., while you hold conversation for them. 
Those who are skillful in the use of these shadows, can make 
them represent a battle, game, contra dance, &c. The fig- 
^ ures of inanimate things must not be moved ; birds can be 
suspended on the ends of strings, and swung about irregu- 
larly, from time to tune. The effect is not unlike a magic 
lantern. When the actors have played long enough, they 
must change places with the spectators. 



"THE COMICAL CONCERT." 

This game, when well played, is extremely diverting. 
The players are arranged as an orchestra, and each one un- 



THE COMICAL CONCERT. 185 

dertakes to imitate some musical instrument. One pretends 
to play the violin, by stretching out her left arm, and moving 
her right hand across it, as if she were drawing a bow; 
another doubles up her hands and puts them to her mouth, 
to imitate a horn ; another moves her fingers on a table, to 
imitate a piano ; another takes the back of a chair and touches 
the rounds, as if they were the strings of a harp ; another 
motions as if beating a drum; another holds a stick, after 
the manner of a guitar, and pretends to play upon it ; another 
appears to be turning a hand-organ ; another plays a flute, 
trombone, or any instrument he fancies — even a jewsharp. 
This is but half the game. Each musician should, while 
playing, make a sound with his mouth, in imitation of Ms 
instrument, thus: 

Eub-a-dub, goes the drum ; 

Twang, twang, goes the harp 

Toot, too, hoo, goes the horn ; 

Tweedle-dee, tweedle-dee, goes the violin, &c. 

If all play with spirit it makes a laughable jumble. The 
leader must stand facing the orchestra, with a long stick, 
beating time, in an absurd imitation of some famous leader. 
In the midst of the noise and fun, he suddenly stops, and 
pointing his wand of office to one of the players, asks, ab- 
ruptly, "Why don't you play better?" The one spoken to 
must answer instantly, and with suitable reference to the 
nature of his instrument. For instance, the drummer could 
say one of his drumsticks is broken; the harper, that a 
string is loose ; the pianist, that a key is broken or out of 
tune; the violinist, that a string is broken, &c. If they 
hesitate a moment, or give an unsuitable answer, or if they 
repeat an excuse already made, they must pay a forfeit or 
take a new instrument. While one is answering, all must 
stop playing. When the leader waves aloft his wand, all 
must commence again, and play till he speaks to some one 



186 GAMES POR OLD AND YOUNG. 

else ; so on till they are weary. Sometimes it is a rule ttat all 
wlio laugh must pay a forfeit. There are many forfeits in 
that case. 



THE MENAGEEIE. 

This is a noisy game. All the actors in the play must 
take seats around the room, while some one or two of the 
number must he chosen to give out the parts. The persons 
so chosen whisper in the ear of each one the name of some 
animal he* is to imitate. When all are ready and the signal is 
given by one chosen for the purpose, each one commences 
to utter sounds in imitation of the animal named to him. 
Those who fail must pay some penalty. It cannot be called 
a "concord of sweet sounds," but such a game wiU give life 
to a too quiet company on a stormy Winter evening. 



QUAKEE MEETING. 

Those who join the game take seats around the room, and 
one or more whispers in the ear of each one some witty or ab- 
surd thing for him to do. All must be quiet who are not 
playing. When all are ready, one person claps his hands, 
and the first one must proceed to do what he was told ; the 
others must not speak or laugh, on penalty of a forfeit. Each 
one in turn must act his or her part. It must all be in pan- 
tomime. When all are through, each person must turn and 
shake hands with his or her neighbor, saying : " Friend, how 
dost thee do?" It is important in this game that the one 
who gives the parts should be full of humor and of quick per- 
ceptions, so as to adapt the game to the persons playing. The 
parts assigned may be of endless variety. One person may 



EESEMBLANCES. 187 

be ordered to play a mock bravui-a on a table for a piano ; 
another to gaze in admiration of himself in a mirror and ar- 
range his dress and hair ; another to act the scornful belle, 
■while a gentleman acts the urgent but despairing lover ; one 
to dance a hornpipe, another to make a speech by gestures, 
another to make grimaces in the face of every one in the com- 
pany, another to pretend terror and fright from some imagi- 
nary animal, etc. 



EESEMBLANCES. 



One of the company taking part in this amusement rises, 
and addressing his or her neighbor, proposes the following 
question : " What does my thought resemble ? " The person 
interrogated replies as he or she pleases ; then the questioner 
adds : "In what way does the object you designate resemble 
that which I am thinking of?" If, as frequently occurs, 
there exists no affinity, no resemblance between the two, a 
pawn must be given by the person interrogated. Here is an 
example : 

Mary. — Tell me, Alice, what does my thought resemble ? 

Alice. — A wind-mill. 

Mary. — ^I thought of Rogers' poetry ; what resemblance is 
there between his poems and a wind-mill ? 

Alice. — ^I can give an answer very readily ; perhaps the 
very prettiest little poem written by your poet begins, " Mine 
be a cot beside the mill." 

Mary. — That is right ; it is now your turn, Annie. What 
does my thought resemble ? 

Annie. — A chandelier. 

Mary. — ^I thought of a partridge ; how does a partridge re- 
semble a chandelier 1 



188 GAMES rOE OLD AND YOUNG. 

Annie. — Dear me, I'm sure I cannot tell ! I wiU give you 
my pawn. 

This play, by the strange inconsistencies ■whicli it author- 
izes, exercises the imagination, and brings into play a good 
deal of wit. 



PUT EST A WOED. 

Some one in the company leaves the room, while those re- 
maining select a word, and then send for the person to return. 
She must ask some question of the person nearest to her, to 
which the one spoken to must make a prompt answer, and in 
answering he must make use of the word selected. Some- 
times an acute person will guess the word from the answer 
^ven to her first question. Some awkward use or slight 
emphasis may betray it, but generally she will go to a number 
and sometimes to all present without guessing the word. In 
that case (unless some one volunteers to take her place), she 
must go out again. If she discovers the word, the one by 
whose answer she guessed it, leaves the room, and those re- 
maining choose a word and the game proceeds as before. 



PROVERBS. 

The company select some one ty leave the room ; those re- 
maining agree upon a proverb, such as " All is not gold that 
glitters," and then send for the person to return to the room. 
She must ask questions of the company in turn. The first 
person asked must include in his answer the first word of the 



GAME OF CHAEACTERS. 189 

proverb, "all," the next person, "is," and so on till they 
complete the proverb; if she has not guessed it, and there 
are more in the company, j;he next person begins the provesb 
anew. The one by whose answer the proverb is guessed must 
then leave the room. This game requires considerable inge- 
nuity and readiness. The proverbs selected should be fa- 
miliar ones, such as "Make hay while the sun shines," 
" When poverty comes in at the door love flies out at the 
window," "A fool is wise in his own conceit," A stitch in 
time saves nine," "Never look a gift horse in the mouth," 
"All's well that ends well," "A bird in the hand is worth 
two in the bush." 



GAIVIE OF CHAEACTERS. 

A PERSON chosen leaves the room. Those remainiag select 
some familiar character either in history or of ihe present day, 
for the absent one to personate. When he returns, the per- 
son nearest him addresses him by a question, as if he were 
the character selected. In like manner, each person in the 
company in turn asks a question. The one at whose ques- 
tions he guesses the character must take his place and leave 
the room in turn. For instance, " Napoleon the present em- 
peror of France " is selected. When the person returns, the 
first questioner exclaims, " Are you not in constant fear of 
being killed?" The next, " Are you really happy?" The 
third, "Why are you so despotic?" The fourth, "Do you 
believe in fatalism?" Fifth, " Do you worship the memory 
of your uncle?" "Why do you not like us Americans?" 
etc., etc. This play is often very amusing and tact is re- 
quired to ask questions that apply to the character and are 
not too plain. 



190 GAMES FOR OLD AND YOUNG. 



LAWYEE. 

All wlio take part in tlie play assemble and choose a law- 
yer. The chairs ia the room are arranged in two rows, as in 
a contra d^nce. If there are an equal number of gentle- 
men and ladies, the former choose their partners. The gen- 
tlemen take seats opposite the ladies. The lawyer proceeds 
to ask such questions as he chooses. The person addressed 
must never answer, but his partner must answer for him. K 
either make a mistake, he or she must change places with the 
lawyer, and ask the questions. If the lawyer is ready m 
askiag questions, turning quickly from one person to another, 
he can very soon catch some one. 



CONSEQUENCES. 

' This is a quiet game. All assemble around a table. Each 
person must have a half sheet of note paper and a pencil. 
All are requested to write an adjective expressing either a 
good or bad quality in a man's character. Each one then 
turns over and creases down the place written upon, and all 
change papers. Each one then writes a gentleman's name, and 
turns it down, and aU change papers again. Then another 
word of quality applying to a lady, is written, and all the 
papers are turned down and changed as before. Then a 
lady's name is written. Then a place where they met ; then 
what he said to her ; then what she said to him ; what he 
gave to her ; and what she gave to him; then the " conse- 
quences." The paper must be turned down every time and 
changed, and no one must read what the others have written. 
When all are finished, some person collects and reads the 



FOX AND GEESE, 191 

papers. Some are absurd, and others happen very correctly. 
For instance, they might read thus: "The clumsy Mr. 
Snooks met the beautiful Miss Primrose at a ball. He asked 
her if she liked turnips ; she sighed and hung her head, and 
said, ' If mamma is willing.' He gave her a bouquet; she 
gave him a box on the ear. The consequences were too sad 
to relate," A party of merry girls and boys will like this 
game for a variety. 



FOX AND GEESE. 



This game is a very old one, but it is too good not to be 
always remembered. Arrange the company in this form, all 
facing inward : — 



^ 



^ ^ ^ 



The stars represent persons ; the one outside the circle, but 
next to it, is the goose ; the one most distant from the circle, 
the fox. When the game commences, the goose starts and 
places himself or herself in front of one of the two stars. 
Then the outside one becomes the goose, and the object of the 
fox is to touch the outside one of three ; if he succeeds, they 
change places, and the one caught becomes the fox. Eveiy 



192 GAMES FOE OLD AND YOUNG. 

one must be on the alert, and change as quickly as possible. 
I have seen this game, on a stormy day at the seashore, played 
with great zeal by old gentlemen, judges, lawyers, ministers, 
mothers, fathers and children. One gray-haired gentleman 
was the fleetest fox of all ; no one could escape him, and his 
laugh made all hearts glad. Green old age is beautiful to see, 
arid the youthful are always made happier by its genial 
sympathy. 



STAGE-COACH. 

All who join this game should be seated, with the excep- 
tion of the story-teller. If there are vacant chairs, they 
should either be turned over or taken out of the room. A 
person with a quick memory and a flow of words, should be 
selected for the office of story-teller. When all are seated, 
he or she passes around the circle, giving a name to each 
individual, When the story is told, the one whose name is 
mentioned must rise and whirl around. When * ' stage-coach ' ' 
is mentioned, all must rise and turn around ; when it is said 
the " stage-coach tips over," all must change places, and the 
story-teller then takes his chance to secure a seat, and the one 
who is left without any seat must go on with the story — the 
former story-teller taking the name of the person who takes 
his place. If any one fails to turn around or change places 
according to the rules of the game, a forfeit must be paid. 
The common way of telling the story is to describe the " Fid- 
get family, on a journey in a stage-coach." The following 
names are generally given to the company : Mr. and Mrs. 
Pidget, the baby and nurse, Miss Fidget and Master Fidget, 
and maiden aunt; gingerbread, band-box, trunks, bundles, 
off horse, nigh horse, driver, whip, reins, driver's seat, cush- 
ions, door, curtains, wheels, footman, &c. You must adapt 
your names to the number playing. In telling the story, it 



HUNT THE FOX: SNEEZING. 193 

makes more fan to keep one or two (who will bear the joke) 
constantly whkling. The story and names are at the will of 

the story-teller. 

>^ 

HUNT THE FOX. 

Take partners, and stand as in a contra dance. The lady 
at the head is the fox ; her partner the hunter. At a signal, 
she starts and runs down the line, her partner following ; she 
can pass through the lines as she pleases, the players standing 
far enough apart to allow her to pass easily. The hunter 
must follow the exact course of the fox ; if he varies, he 
must pay a forfeit. When the fox is caught, the first couple 
goes to the foot, and the next couple goes through with the 
same. This and "Follow the Leader" are. favorite games 
for Thanksgiving evenings. Old and young join. 



SNEEZING. 
All who join this game assemble in a circle, The leader 
gives one of these syllables, " Ash-ish-osh," to each one. 
Thus, to the first person, "Ash;" the second, "ish;" third, 
" osh;" fourth, " ash," and so on through all the company. 
The leader must then stand in the centre and count four, 
slowly. When he pronounces four, all must sound their 
syllables at once. The effect is very amusing ; it sounds like 
a prolonged sneeze. 



THE KEADY WRITER. 

This game can be played by any number of persons, each 
one having a pencil and paper. The leader of the game 
gives to each one (or each player chooses) a letter in the 
alphabet. Each player then writes a sentence of five, six or 



194 GAMES FOE OLD AND YOUNG. 

seven words, each word commencing witli the letter given 
him. When all have finished, each one in turn reads his 
sentence. If any one fails, he or she must recite some poetry 
and pay a forfeit. This game often produces most amusing 
and instructive effects. Sometimes the leader requires each 
player to go through the alphabet, as follows : 

Avoid avarice, as an asp. 

Britons ! be bold ! be brave ! 

Constant crime causes careless consciences. 

Do defer doing dirty deeds.' 

Even every engineer engaged escaped. 

Pawning favorites fear fortune's freaks. 

God's goodness gives great gifts. 

Happy homes have happy hearts. 

It is instruction I intend. 

Keep kind, kinsfolk ! keep kind ! 

Jockeys joyfully joking jaded jackasses. 

Little lambs love long lanes. 

Many men make much money. 

Name nine noisy noblemen now. 

Ostentation often operates on opulence. 

Perfect piety produces pretty practices. 

Quit, quibbling quacks, quarreling, quickly. 

Eound rough rocks ragged rascals run. 

Such stings sting so sharply. 

Try to turn topsy-turvy. 

Up ! up ! ungrateful, unjust usurper ! 

Verily, verilj"-, vice vilifies virtue. 

WilHng wives wiU wash well. 

Yes, yet you yawned yesterday. 

Zeal ! zeal ! zealous zary, zeal ! 



EHYMING WOEDS IN PANTOMIME. 

All who desire to join in this charming pastime must he 
seated in a circle, in order that each player can have a clear 
view of all the other players. One of the company must be 



RHYMING WORDS IN PANTOMIME. 195 

selected to commence the game. He must think of some word 
which can be easily rhymed by other words, and give out only 
the termination of the word to the other players, saying ' ' I 

have thought of a word that rhymes with , can any of 

you guess it?" The players must next speak in answer to 
the leader's question, but whoever thinks of a word to rhyme 
with the given termination must strive to act out the word he 
thinks of in pantomime, as plainly as possible, and the leader 
must closely watch the player who is acting the word, and as 
soon as he guesses what the person acting is trying to repre- 
sent, if it is not the word selected, he must say, "It is not 

," (calling out the word represented) " that I thought 

of," and so on as each player acts out a word, the leader must 
call out the word represented until the right word is acted. 
The leader must then resign his place, and the person who 
acted out the right word must be the leader and think of a 
word, giving out the termination to be rhymed with. An ex- 
ample will here be given to assist those ignorant of this game. 
Suppose the person who first selects a word chooses "sting " 
and gives out " ing " to be rhymed with. One of the players 
makes a motion with his hands of ringing a bell. The leader 
says, "It is not ring, to ring a bell." Another player will 
by signs indicate a ring on the finger. The leader exclaims, 
"It is not a finger-ring." One of the players will imitate 
wringing of clothes. The leader says, "It is not wring." 
Another represents singing, and is told "it is not sing." A 
player will perhaps imitate a bee stinging. Then the leader 
exclaims, " Sting is the word, I resign my place to you." 
Perhaps a few examples of rhyming words easily acted may 
be useful, which will be given here. 



Sun. 


Hair. 


Map. 


Hill. 


Sheep. 


Dun. 


Hare. 


Csq). 


IviU. 


Deep. 


Pun. 


Pair. 


Lap. 


MiU. 


Weep. 


Run. 


Pear. 


Eap. 


Pill. 


£?Ieep. 



196 GAMES FOK OLD AND YOUNG. 



Gun. 


Bear. 


Snap, 


StiU. 


Creep. 


Fun. 


Fair. 


Trap. 


EiU. 


Reap. 


Spun. 


Prayer. 


Flap. 


SiU. 


Cheap. 


Bun. 


Flare. 


Clap. 


BiU. 


Leap. 



AN EXHIBITION OF THE MODERN 
GIANT. 

This is rare sport, wlien well managed, and for a time the 
exhibition appears very mysterious to the uninitiated. A 
large sheet should be strained across some open door ; fold- 
ing doors are better adapted to this game, as they give a 
larger space for action. 

The room in which the spectators are seated should be 
darkened; but in the room back of the curtain, where the 
Giant exhibits, should be placed on the floor, a bright lamp 
or candle, with a reflector, either of polished tin or a looking 
glass. Any one standing between the light and curtain, ap- 
pears immense in all his proportions, as his reflection is cast 
upon the sheet. Let the person acting as the Giant first open 
his hands and spread his fingers wide, and let them appear at 
the bottom of the curtain, and gradually rise till the shadow 
of his whole body is exhibited between the light and the cur- 
tain. He will appear to rise from the cellar ; then let him 
jump over the light, to the rear of the reflector, and it will 
seem as if he jumped upwards through the ceiling. 

Many amusing scenes can be thus contrived, articles of 
furniture, etc., etc., can be called down from above by simply 
passing them over the light. Dolls can be used with great 
effect. The Giant can appear to swallow them — or destroy 
the pigmy race. Care should be taken to keep the profile 
on the screen or cm-tain as distinct as possible. Some call 
this game " The man in the moon came down too soon." 



THE SHADOW AT COMMAJSTD. 197 



THE SHADOW AT COMMA]S[D. 

This feat is performed by means of confederacy. Having 
privately apprised your confederate that when you strike one 
blow, it signifies the letter A ; when you strike two, it means 
B ; and so on for the rest of the alphabet ; you state to the 
company that if any one will walk into the adjoining room, 
and have the door locked upon him,' perhaps the animal may 
appear which another person may name. In order to deter 
every one except your confederate from accepting the offer, 
you announce at the same time that the person who volun- 
teers to be shut up in the room must be possessed of con- 
siderable courage, or he had better not tmdertake it. Having 
thus gained your end, you give your confederate a lamp, 
which burns with a very dismal light, telling him, in the 
hearing of the company, to place it on the middle of the 
floor, and not to feel alarmed at what he may happen to see. 
You then usher him into the room, and lock the door. You 
next take a piece of blank paper and a pencil, and, giving 
them to one of the party, you teU him to write the name of 
any animal he wishes to appear to the person shut up in the 
room. This being done, you receive back the paper, and 
after showing it around to the company, you fold it up, burn 
it in the candle or lamp, and throw the ashes into a mortar 
(an iron one is the best), easting in at the same time a pow- 
der, which you state to be possessed of valuable properties. 
Having taken care to read what was written, you proceed to 
pound the ashes in the mortar, thus.: Suppose the word 
written be "cat," you begin by stirring the pestle around the 
mortar several times, and then strike three distinct blows, 
loiid enough for your confederate to hear, and by which he 
knows that the first letter of the word is C. You next make 



198 GAMES FOR OLD AND YOUNG. 

some irregular evolutions of tlie pestle around the mortar, 
that it may not appear to the company that you give nothing 
but blows, and then strike one blow for A. Work the pestle 
about again, and then strike twenty blows, which he wUl 
know means T — finishing your manoeuvre by working the 
pestle about the mortar, the object being to make the blows 
as little remarkable as possible. You then call aloud to your 
confederate, and ask him what he sees. At first he is to 
make no reply; after being interrogated several times, he 
asks if it is not a cat. 

That no mistake be made, each party should repeat to him- 
self the letters of the alphabet in the order of the blows. If 
he misses, you might go over, pretending you had forgotten 
some word in your incantations, as you can mumble to your- 
self when pounding. If your confederate is a good mimic, 
it would add to the amusement of all to mimic the sounds of 
the anunal to appear to him. 

I have seen this game differently performed. Your con- 
federate, after any word has been chosen, returns to the room, 
and you give assurance that by your magical art you can 
inform him of the word. You then take a cane and draw a 
large cii-cle, and at the same time repeat any absurd jingle or 
formula of words ; then pretend to call up some ancient 
spirit, and by your raps on the floor tell your confederate your 
first letter. Then pretend to draw magical figures, and repeat 
anything you think of; pretend to listen for an answer; then 
call up some different spirit, and by your distinct raps express 
the second letter ; and so on until the word is finished. This 
game can be made very amusing. 



THE WIZARD OF THE EAST. 

The principal performer attires himself in a robe, a paper 
cap, spectacles, and other appointments necessary to the outfit 



TO BRING ONE DOWN UPON A TEATHEK. 199 

of tlie "Wizard of the East." He is armed "with a magic 
waud, by means of wliieh he is supposed to exercise his mys- 
terious calling, and with which he makes a circle on the 
ground, muttering at the same time the unearthly words of 
some potent spell. After communing profoundly for some 
moments with some imaginary familiar, he appears to have 
decided, and touches one of his confederates with his wand, 
ordering him to go to the other end of the room, and there 
blindfold his eyes. This order executed, and the audience 
satisfied that the confederate is really blindfolded, the wizard 
orders him to g-uess the person on whom his wand shall rest. 
The wizard then proceeds to touch several persons lightly 
with the wand, saying at each, " The wand moves," and at 
length allows it to rest on the shoulder of the one who spoke 
last (the key to the trick), exclaiming, "The wand rests." 
The confederate will at once name the person touched (who, 
also being a confederate, has purposely spoken last). The 
latter takes the place of the person blindfolded, and the 
wizard goes thiough with the same form ; his confederate ex- 
citing them to talk, he again touches the one who spoke last ; 
the confederate names him correctly, and the person touched 
is blindfolded in turn. Unless he understands the game, he 
will have only chance to guide him, and will rarely guess 
correctly. Those who fail, pay a forfeit. Sometimes one of 
the confederates takes the place of the wizard, and further 
mystifies the company. This game, though simple, often 
puzzles a room full. 



TO BRING A PERSON DOWN UPON A 
FEATHER 

This is a practical pun : — ^You desire any one to stand on 
a chair or table, and you tell him that notwithstanding his 



200 GAMES FOR OLD AND YOUNG. 

weight you will bring him down upon a feather. You then 
leave the room, and procttring a feather you give it to him, 
and tell him you have performed your promise, that you en- 
gaged to bring him down upon a feather, which you have 
done, for there is the feather, and if he looks he'll find down 
upon it. 



THE APPARENT IMPOSSIBILITY. 

You profess yourself able to show any one what he never 
saw before, what you never saw, and what no one ever saw, 
and which after you two have seen, no one else ever shall see. 
After requesting the company to guess this riddle, and they 
have professed themselves unable to do so, produce a nut, and 
having cracked it, take out the kernel, and ask them if they 
have ever seen it before ; of course they answer no ; you re- 
ply, " Neither have I, and I think you will confess th-at nobody 
else has ever seen it, and now no one shall see it again ;" 
saying which, you put the kernel into your mouth and eat it. 



THE TUENED HEAD. 

Let a lady be invested with as many wrappings as possible, 
but cloak, shawl, scarf, &c., must be put on wrong side be- 
fore, so as to present the appearance of a " Turned Head." 
She ' should be furnished with a muff, which she must hold 
behind her as nearly as possible in the usual manner, but her 
bonnet must be put on the proper way. Thus equipped she 
must enter the room backwards and pass around it in that 
manner. This can be used as a forfeit. 



HE CAN DO LITTLE WHO CAN't DO THIS. 201 



STATUAEY. 

Statuary, when personated by intelligent ladies and gen- 
tlemen, can be made very amusing. Some witty gentleman, 
well versed in statuary, takes the part of sbowman. He 
fir.st selects from the company those he wishes to assist him, 
being careful to select only such as can best control their 
countenances. After obtaining a number of sheets, he takes 
possession of a parlor, shutting the rest of the company out. 
He then arranges his assistants as statuary around the room as 
quickly as possible, covering each one, or each group, with a 
sheet ; then throws open the door, and invites the company to 
a rare exhibition of statuary. After making a grandiloquent 
speech he uncovers a group, and gives as absurd a description 
as possible ; so on through the whole. 

As fun is the chief object, take for example some tall plain 

gentleman and place him with bow in hand for Cupid. For 

Diogenes, take a large wash tub and a boy in it, &c. 

Another diversion is to cover some ladies and gentlemen all 

but one eye with a sheet ; then let the company guess who 

they are. 

. » ■ 

HE CAN DO LITTLE WHO CAN'T DO 
THIS. 

Arkange yourselves in a circle. The one who knows the 
game takes a cane in his left hand and pounds upon the floor 
with it, saying, " He can do little who can't do this," and 
passes the cane with his right hand to his right hand. neigh- 
bor, who tries to do the same thing, but generally fails. The 
catch consists in quickly changing the cane from the left to the 
right hand before you pass it. Every one is then intent on 
your manner of pounding the cane on the floor. Change 
hands as carelessly as possible. 
9* 



202 GAMES FOR OLD AND YOUNG. 



BEOTHER! I AM BOBBED! 

A PERSON wlio understands the game proposes to anotter, 
who is ignorant of it, to be blinded with him and be "bobbed." 
After being blind-folded they sit down in "two chairs placed 
back to back. The one who knows the game then removes 
the bandage from his eyes and ties a knot in his handkerchief. 
The others join hands and go round them in a circle. The one 
not blind-folded carelessly hits the other with his handkerchief. 
The one struck of course, thinks himself hit by some one in 
the circle, and exclaims, " brother, I am bobbed." The other 
says, " who bobbed you ? " In answer he mentions the name 
of some- one in the ring. They all call out, " you are wrong," 
so he is bobbed till the fun is exhausted, he trying to guess 
the person who hit him and expecting to change places when 
he guesses correctly. The other pretends he is hit occasionally 
and calls out he is bobbed. It requires a good-natured per- 
son to take the joke pleasantly. 



HOW DO YOU LIKE IT? WHEN DO YOU 

LIKE IT? AND WHEEE WILL YOU 

PUT IT? 

The difficulty of this game consists in guessing the mean- 
ing of two or more nouns, 'which sound alike but have differ- 
ent meanings, without any other help than the answers given 
to the above questions. It is played in the following manner. 
One of the company is sent out of the room and not recalled 
until her companions have agreed upon two words of similar 
sound, with which to puzzle her. When she comes in she 
asks, " How do you like it ? " One answers, " very much in- 



THE BIRD-CATCHEE. 203 

deed," or "I don't like it early in tlie morning;" another 
says, "It is too noisy;" another, "It is too fond of fine 
clothes," &c. She then asks, " "When do you like it ? " One 
answers, " At all times; " another, " When I feel hungry for 
my dinner;" another, " I want it when walking alone;" an- 
other, " When I want some wood brought for my fire," &c. 
Lastly she asks, " Where would you put it ? " One says, "I 
would hang it;" another, "I would shut it up in a church- 
tower;" another, "I would take it to a ball-room," &c. 

From such answers a witty little girl may guess that belle 
was the chosen word, (belle, a fashionable lady, and bell, an 
instrument of sound.) Such as do not guess must pay a for- 
feit. Many words might be chosen for this game, such as 
hail', hare ; reign, rain ; date, a fi.TQt and date a period of time ; 
whip to strike with, and whip to eat; pear, pair; heir, air; 
ale, ail ; mason a brick-layer, mason a member of a secret 
society ; beer, bier ; see and sea. 



THE BIED-CATCHER. 

All who join this game must be seated in a circle, first 
choosing a bird-catcher, who takes his or her place in the cen- 
tre. He can give the name of a bird to each person, or each 
can select one, but each one must represent some bird, and 
one of the number must personate an owl. The bird-catcher 
then tells a story, introducing the names of different birds. 
Every bird when mentioned must immediately make a chirrup, 
crow, screech or splutter, peculiar to its species. The slightest 
delay or mistake is punished by a forfeit. Each player, until 
the owl is mentioned, must rest his hands on his knees ; but 
when the owl is called, each player must instantly clasp his 
hands behind him. The bird-catcher tries to seize the hand 



204 GAMES FOR OLD AND YOUNG. 

of one of the players before he raises it from his knee ; if he 
succeeds, the person so caught must pay a forfeit or take the 
bird-catcher's place, his name and place in the aviary being 
taken by the late officer. If he fails to entrap any one, he 
must pay a forfeit, and continue the story until he does, or 
has paid a certain number of forfeits ; another then takes his 
place, either by lot or choice. The company must keep their 
hands behind them until some other bird is mentioned, when 
they must return them promptly. It is well to mention the 
owl twice in succession, but no one must change the second 
time ; the owl must make his peculiar cry whenever he is 
mentioned. The following is a list of available birds, with 
sounds peculiar to them, taken from undoubted authorities:— 

The Cock — "Cook a doodle doo." 

The Hen — "Cut, cut, cut, ca da cut." 

The Chicken — "Peep, peep, peep." 

The Turkey — Gobble, obble obble. ' ' 

The Duck — "Quack, quack, quack." 

The Canary — ' ' Pretty Dick. ' ' 

The Magpie — "Jack wants his dinner." 

The Sparrow — "Chip, chip." 

The Whippowill — "Whip po will." 

The Parrot — "Pretty Poll ; Poll wants cracker." 

The Curlew— "Pe-wit, pe-wit." 

The Crow — "Caw, caw, caw." 

The Goose — "Hiss— s—s." 

The Raven — " Cro-a-ak." 

The Snowbird — " Chick-adee-dee." 

The Owl — ' ' To-wit, to-wit, to-whoo. ' ' 

These sounds of course can be varhd to suit the idea of the 
performer. Parrot and magpie can be made to speak as they 
wish. The raven may be made to say, " Never more," ac- 
cording to Poe's poem. But the sounds agreed upon at the 
beginning must not be changed during the game. Some 



THE BIRD-CATCHER. 205 

amusement can be gained by giving appropriate names to 
different persons. The owl could be given to the most 
learned in the company. The best singer, the nightingale, 
could be represented by a few bars of Jenny Lind's melodies. 
The magpie could be given to a great talker. When all are 
ready the bu'd-catcher might commence in the following 
manner : — 

I went out the other morning with my gun and nets to 
catch a few birds. I did not intend robbing a farm yard, but 
on the top of a railing I saw a fine cock ; (" Cock a doodle 
do,") there was nobody looking and I couldn't resist it — 
when up came an enormous tui-fcey. (" Gobble, obble, ob- 
ble.") Oh! Oh! said I, a turkey, ("Gobble, obble, ob- 
ble") — ^weU a turkey ("Gobble, obble, obble") is worth 
more than a little sparrow, (" Chip, chip,") and there is 
more to eat on it than on a curlew, ("Pewit, pewit,") and 
as I had made up my mind to steal a cock, (" Cock a doodle 
do,") why not a goose, ("His, s, s,") or a turkey. 
(" Gobble, obble, obble.") I crept up to him, when all of 
a sudden a rascally magpie (" Jack wants his dinner ") flew 
out of a bush, making such an abominable noise that all the 
bu'ds in the air (general cry without moving the hands) took 
flight at once. Off went the turkey ("Gobble, obble, ob- 
ble") on one side and the cock (Cock a doodle do") 
on the other, scattering a flock of ducks. (" Quack, 
quack.") There was not a single bird in sight but the owl. 
(" To whit ! to whit ! to whoo.") All hands up. [A for- 
feit given either by the unlucky bird-catcher who has not 
succeeded in catching a hand, or by a bird whose hand he has 
caught; in either case, he who remains, or becomes bird- 
catcher, continues.] As I was saying, the owl [dead silence 
except the sound of the owl, all hands still behind] began 
making an extraordinary noise, no doubt thinking himself the 
nightingale, [the nightingale sings a bar from the "Daugh- 



206 GAMES FOR OLD AND YOUNG. 

ter of the Regiment;" all hands down on the knees immedi- 
ately. Forfeits from those too late, or in too great a hurry- 
to replace them,] and all the bu'ds in the air [general cry] 
flocked round again to see what the matter could be. Up 
came the crow^ ("Caw, caw,") the raven, ("Croak," or 
"never more," as agTeed on) the wild duck, ("Quack! 
quack!") even the farmer's parrot, ("Pretty Poll,") in 
fact, all the birds in the field, [dead silence.] " Oh ! ho !" 
I said, "now I shall put some salt on you," when to my horror, 
the beast of an owl — (" To whit, to whit, to whoo !") — [all 
hands disappear as before, and the bird-catcher darts forward 
to catch some one. Whenever the bird-catcher says, "All 
the bu'ds in the air " — every bird must answer at once.] 



QUESTIONS AND ANSWEES. 
All take partners and sit opposite each other. Then one 
person whispers a different question in the ear of each on one 
side of the room, and another gives an answer to each on the 
opposite side. The first couple commence. One asks the 
question whispered to him, his partner gives the answer whis- 
pered to her. Each couple take turn in giving the questions 
and answers. A lady should direct the gentlemen, and a gen- 
tleman the ladies. Each side asks the questions alternately, 
the side that first asked the questions next making the answers. 



THE MAGIC WAND. 

The magician, or the person who wields the wonderful 
wand, has a confederate who retires from the room. In his 
absence, the company (the magician being present) agree 
upon some piece of furniture or other article, by which the 



RHYMING GAMES. 207 

powers of the wand are to be tested. He is tlien called in 
and the magician points to various articles about the room. 
Whenever he points to any article except the one agi'eed upon, 
the confederate is sure to say "that is not it," and he never 
fails to designate the right article when the wand is pointed 
towards it. This proceeding, which at first sight appears mys- 
terious, is easily explained. When the magician points to 
the article agreed upon by the company he slightly changes 
the position of the forefinger of the hand in which he holds 
the wand, or makes some slight gesture previously agreed 
upon by him and his confederate. The confederate looks in- 
tently at every article pointed out and pretends to be thinking 
deeply, while the company are generally so intent on follow- 
ing his movements that they do not notice the almost imper- 
ceptible motions of the magician. If one of the company 
thinks he has detected the trick, he takes the confederate's 
place, and sometimes finds himself mistaken. If the magi- 
cian is a very mysterious personage he will be apt to magnet- 
ize the confederate at the beginning of the game. 

The " Black Art " is another form of the same game. The 
magician next before pointing at the article agreed upon, 
points towards some object of a black color, and in that way 
gives the information to his confederate. 



THE EHYMING GAME. 

Where several are passing an -evening quietly together, 
this game may afford much amusement. It is played as fol- 
lows : Each one of the company writes a single word on a 
slip of- paper ; the more unusual and difficult the word is to 
rhyme with, the more amusement it makes. These slips of 
paper are placed in a hat, and each one of the company, in 
turn, draws one, and then writes a couplet, in which the word 



208 GAMES FOR OLD AND YOUNG. 

drawn shall stand at the end cf a line, and the word at the 
end of the other line shall rhyme with it. Of course, each 
may write as much more as he pleases. Where the company 
arc witty and ready, and have a faculty of making verses 
easily, the game is a pleasant one. Epigrams on the com- 
pany present, puns and^ood-natured hits, add much to the fuu 
in this game. 



THE GAME OF TWENTY QUESTIONS. 

This is one of the best of the games, though hut little 
known. Such men as Canning, Wyndham and Pitt have 
played it ; the latter two, indeed, were especially fond of it ; 
so it does not lack recommendation. The rules of the game 
and its description are briefly these : 

Two persons (usually a lady and gentleman) , chosen by 
the company, privately fix upon an article or subject. Two 
others are then chosen to discover the subject so agreed upon, 
and they must do this by asking twenty questions as to its 
nature and qualities. A fifth person is usually selected as 
umpire, who is made acquainted with the subject fixed upon, 
and whose duty it is to see that all the questions are fairly 
put and answered. The questions are to be put plainly, 
though in the alternative, if desu'ed, and the answers must be 
plain and direct. The object of the thoughts must not be an 
abstract idea, or anything so occult, or scientific, or technical, 
as to be beyond the reasonable information of the company, 
but something well known to the present day, or to general 
history. It may be, for example, any name of renown, 
ancient or modern, or any well known work or memorial of 
art, but not a mere event, as a battle, for instance. Of 
course, the discovery, if made, is to be the fair result of men- 



THE GAME OF TWENTY QUESTIONS. 209 

tal inference from the questions and answers, not of signs 
passing, or juggling of any description. 

Mr. Pitt is said to haye once succeeded ia this game, when 
the subject was TJie stone upon which Walworth, Lord Mayor 
of London, stood, when he struck down Wat. Tyler, in 
Richard LL^s time! 

In a game in which Mx. Canning was the questioner, the 
questions and answers were as follows : — 

First. — Does what you have thought of belong to the 
animal or vegetable kingdom ? 

Answer. — To the vegetable. 

Second. — Is it manufactured, or unmanufactured ? 

Answer. — Manufactured. 

Tliird. — Is it a solid, or a liquid ? 

Ansioer. — A solid. 

Fourth. — Is it a thing entire in itself, or in parts ? 

Answer. — Entire. 

Fifth. — Is it for private use, or public ? 

Ansioer. — Public. 

Sixth. — Does it exist in England, or out of it ? 

Answer. — In England. 

Seventh. — Is it single, or are there others of the same 
kiad. 

Answer. — Single. 

FKghth. — Is it historical, or only existent at present? 

Answer. — Both. 

Ninth. — For ornament, or use ? 

Answer. — Both. 

Tenth. — Has it any connection with the person of the 
king ? 

Answer. — No. 

Eleventh. — Is it earned, or does it support itself? 

Answer. — The former. 

Twelfth. — Does it pass by succession ? [Not answered, 



210 GAMES FOR OLD AND YOUNG. 

on account of tincertainty ; but, by agreement, the question 
was counted one in the progress of the game.] 

Thirteenth. — Was it used at the coronation? 

Answer. — Yes. 

Fourteenth. — In the hall or abbey ? 

Answer. — Probably, in both ; certainly in the abbey. 

Fifteenth. — Does it belong specially to the coronation, or 
is it used at other times ? 

Answer. — It is used at other times. 

Sixteenth. — Is it exclusively of a vegetable nature, or is 
it not in some parts a compound of a vegetable and a mineral ? 

Answer. — Exclusively of a vegetable nature. 

Seventeenth. — What is its shape ? [Objected to, as too 
particular; withdrawn by the questioner and therefore not 
counted.] 

Seventeenth, repeated. — Is it decorated, or simple ? [Ob- 
jected to, but objection not sustained,] 

Answer. — Simple. , 

Eighteenth. — Is it used at the ordinary ceremonial of the 
House of Commons or House of Lords ? 

Answer. — No. 

Nineteenth. — Is it ever used by either House ? 

Answer. — No. 

Tiventieth. — Is it generally stationary, or movable? 

Answer. — Movable. 

Answer, guessed correctly at the end of the twentieth ques- 
tion: " The wand of the Lord High Steward.^' 



GAME OF PHOTOGEAPH. 

One person is chosen to preside. He must see that eacTi 
player is provided with pencil and paper with which to write 
his replies to the questions announced by the president. The 



PHOTOGRAPHS. 211 

questioas are put in the order here given, and the answers 
must be numbered to correspond with the qiiestions. 

1. What vu'tue do you most admire ? 

2. "What vice do you most abhor? 

3. Who is your favorite prose author? 

4. Who is your favorite poet ? 

5. Who is your favorite poetess ? 

6. What book do you prefer ? 

7. What is your favorite amusement? 

8. What is your favorite economy ? 

9. What is your favorite extravagance ? 

10. What is your favorite color ? 

11. What is your favorite hour ? 

12. What is your favorite art? 

13. What is your favorite picture ? 

14. What is your favorite statue ? 

15. What is youx favorite season ? 

16. What is your favorite flower ? 

17. ^Vhat is your favorite aim of life ? 

18. Who is your favorite hero ? 

19. Who is your favorite heroine ? 

20. Which is your favorite summer resort ? 
s your favorite weakness ? 
s the sweetest word in the world ? 
s the saddest word ? 
s yotir favorite man's name . 
s your favorite woman's name ? 
s your prevailing characteristic ? 
s your favorite piece of music ? 
s your favorite occupation ? 

29. Which do you prefer, wealth or a competency ? 

30. Which is your favorite animal? 



21. What 

22. What 

23. What 

24. What 

25. What 

26. What 

27. What 

28. What 



212 GAMES FOR OLD AND YOUNG. 

When all the answers have been written, the papers are 
collected by the President. No one is to see what answers 
have been written by any other person. After shuffling them 
together, the President reads them aloud, and each player 
guesses as to the authorship of each paper. Forfeits are 
sometimes collected, and the game prolonged in that way. 
This game cannot be well played except by persons who are 
well acq[u:ainted with each other. 



YOEK AND LANCASTEE, OE THE WAE 
OF THE EOSES. 

This game is commenced by the choice of two Command- 
ers, either by lot or by vote. As it is necessary for the suc- 
cess of the game to select the most skillful as the Command- 
ers, each player should carefully consider the merits of all the 
others before casting his vote.. \ One Cormnander is called 
Duke of York, and the other Duke of Lancaster. ;. The Com- 
manders draw lots for the first choice of men, and each Duke 
selects alternately a, man from 'the 'players _tiU. the whole are 
drawn.. 

Each party marks out its ^ fort by drawing semicircular 
lines; the forts should be. in-line, twenty paces apart, "and 
each of them sufficiently large to hold easily one of the ar- 
mies. Twenty paces in front of^ each fort should be drawn a 
semicu'cle larger than the fort, which^ is called the prison, 
the prisons and forts thus marking the four corners of a square. 

The two Dukes then draw lots to decide which shall ^eom- 
mence the game. If the Duke of York wins,"^he'.Vse]icfs'out 
one of his red-rose men, usually a new player,'lwho'mus'tlruri 
at least beyond the liae of the prison before "he..returns^ As 
soon as he has started the other Duke sends" out "onc^of, his 
men to pursue, and, if possible,', to touch I the 'red-rose rtmner 



YOKK AND LANCASTER. 213 

before he can regain Ms own fort. If this is accomplished, 
the successful runner returns to his fort, "while the vanquished 
party must go to the enemy's prison, from which he cannot 
stir until some one from his own side releases him, by touch- 
ing him in spite of the enemy. This is not an easy task, as 
in order to reach the enemy's prison, the player must pass by 
the enemy's fort. It is allowable for the prisoner to stretch 
his hand as far towards his rescuer as possible, but he must 
keep his body within the bounds j and if several prisoners are 
taken, it is sufficient for one to remain within the prison, while 
the rest, by joining hands, make a chain towards the player 
who is trying to release them. [The Commanders in the 
commencement of the game must decide if they will allow 
this latter mode of escape.] When a rescue is thus accom- 
plished, both the prisoner and his rescuer return to their fort, 
no one being allowed to touch them until they have reached 
their fort and again started out. 

But the game is not restricted to the two originally sent 
out. 'As soon as either Duke sees one of his men pressed by 
an opponent, he sends out a third, who is in his tm-n pursued 
by another from the opposing side ; each being allowed to 
touch any who have preceded, but none who have left their 
fort after him."^''^. The war soon becomes exciting; prisoners 
arc made and released, the two Dukes watching the game, 
and rarely exposing themselves, except in cases of emergency, 
but du'ecting the whole proceedings. The game is considered 
won, when one party has succeeded in imprisoning the whole 
of the other side. 

Much depends upon the Commanders, who sometimes, by 
a bold dash, rescue the most important of their men, and 
thereby turn the fate of the battle ; or when the attention of 
the opposite side is occupied by some hardly-contested strug- 
gle, send out a player who walks quietly up to the prison, . 
and without attracting the notice of the opposing party, lets 



214 GAMES FOE OLD AND YOUNG. 

out a prisoner. No player is permitted to toucli more than 
one person until he has returned to his fort; when he can 
sally out again, armed with fresh strength, like Antaeus of 
old, who could not be conquered at wrestling because when- 
ever he touched the ground his strength was renewed by his 
Mother Earth. 



POST-OFFICE. 



This family game is instructive as well as amusing. Each 
one present writes a poem, anecdote, essay, or a letter to some 
person either present or absent. The articles written should 
be concise and must in all cases be original. Any one who 
chooses to do so can disguise his handwriting. The papers, 
as they are completed, are carefully folded and directed, and 
then deposited in a covered box placed on the table. 

The post-master must be chosen by the company. He has 
the right to open all the letters and papers, first announcing 
to whom each is directed, and reads them aloud. After the 
reading, the papers are distributed according to the directions 
written upon them. 

Young people who write for the "family portfolio" soon 
become very much interested in it, and find themselves ac- 
quiring a ready use of the pen. 



HANDWRITING UPON THE WALL. 

CiTT the word or words to be shown, out of a thick card or 
pasteboard ; place it before a lighted lamp, and the writing 
will be distinctly seen upon the wall of the room. 



GRACES. 215 



GEACES. 

This also is an old game, but should be revived, as it is as 
beneficial as many of the exercises in the gymnasium, and 
quite as graceful. It is of Grerman origin, and can be played 
in the open air, or in any hall or long room. 



^or 



n 




To play the game you need four smooth, round sticks nearly 
three-quarters of a yard long. The stick at one end should 
be just large enough to be grasped firmly by the hand, and 
should be tapered gradually to the end. These sticks, or 
grace wands, may be prettily painted and wound near the 
large end, where they are held, with fancy ribbons. The 
hoops are from ten to twelve inches in diameter, made of some 
light wood, as bamboo, covered with bright colored silks and 
wound with silver cord or some tinsel chenille. 

The game is usually played by only two players, each taking 
two wands and one hoop, and standing at a distance from each 
other ; the two wands are held in the hands across each other 
like open scissors. The object is to throw and catch the hoop 



216 GAMES FOB, OLD AND YOUNG. 

upon these wands. When trying to catch the hoop the sticks 
are held like scissors shut, and are opened apart when the 
hoop is thrown from you. If you can crown your opponent 
without her catching the hoop, a kiss is the old-estabhshed for- 
feit. The object of the game, as in " Shuttlecock and Battle- 
door," is to keep both hoops flying without once touching the 
floor. Beginners had better first play with only one hoop. 



FAMILY NEWSPAPER • 

This is an excellent pastime for a large family, or several 
families can unite in it. Choose the most ready writer, and 
the person' of the best judgment among your number, for the 
editor. He must also be a good penman. Your paper can 
be a weekly or a monthly journal as you please. Every mem- 
ber of the family must contribute one or more articles for the 
paper, either serious, laughable, instructive or absurd pieces, 
and give to the editor in season for him to arrange his paper, 
and publish it at. the appointed time. Such as wish to con- 
ceal their authorship must notify the editor, and he is bound 
in honor not to reveal the name of any writer without his per- 
mission. Large sheets can be procured, or two or more small 
ones can be used together. The paper can then be read aloud 
to the family, or each can read it separately. The family pa- 
per will be found to add another link to the home chain. All 
the papers thus prepared should be carefully preserved, and 
in after years they will prove a source of pleasure. Most 
vividly will they bring by-gone days before you. 

A friend of mine lately told me of a newspaper of this 
description, edited by a nephew only eleven years of age. 
She said that its perfect regularity and neatness were beauti- 
ful to see. He printed the whole with a pen, and it was ar- 



FAMILY NEWSPAPEK. 



217 



ranged in proper newspaper form. The leading editorials 
first, followed by a letter from abroad, anecdotes, terrible ac- 
cidents, telegraph news, marriages, deaths, advertisements, 
etc., etc. He was one of a family of nine. Every member 
of the family wrote for it, even a little girl of six wrote an 
anecdote about her pet lamb. 




10 



Grames of Memory. 




RENCH and English, exercises of tlie mem- 
^^ ory, sncli as tlie following, may serve to anrnse 
some leisure hour. The first is entitled the 
" Grrand Panjandrum :" — " She went into the 
garden to cut a cabbage leaf to make an ap- 
ple pie ; and at the same time a great she-bear 
coming up the street pops its head into the 
shop. ' What 1 no soap ?' So he died, and 
she very imprudently married the barber; 
and there were present the Picininnies, and the Joblillies, and 
the Grurgulies, and the great Panjandrum himself, with the 
little round button at top ; and they all fell to playing the 
game of ' catch as catch can,' till the gunpowdei* ran out at 
the heels of their boots." 

" Peter Piper picked a peck of pickled peppers, 
A peck of pickled peppers Peter Piper picked ; 
If Peter Piper picked a peck of pickled peppers, 
Where is the peck of pickled peppers Peter Piper picked 1 " 

" When a twister twisting would twist Mm a twist, 
Por twisting his twist three twists he wiU twist ; 
But if one of his twists imtwists from the twist. 
The twist untwisting untwists the twist." 



LE JARDIN DE MA TANTE : GOOD FAT HE]S\ 219 

" Didon dina, dit on, du dos d'un dodu dindon. ' 

" Eobert Eowley rolled a round roll round ; 
A round roll Robert Rowley rolled round ; 
Where rolled the round roll Eohert Eowley rolled round 1" 

A Feenchman having taken herb tea for a cough, his 
neighbor asked him, " Ton The, t'a t'il ote ta toiix? " 



«LE JARDIN DE MA TANTE." 

Le vieut du jardin de ma tante. 0, qu'il est beau le jar- 
din de ma tante ! Dans le jardin de ma tante, il y a un ar- 
bre. 0, qu'il est beau I'arbre du jardin de ma tante ! Dans 
I'arbre du jardin de ma tante, il y a un trou. 0, qu'il est 
beau le trou, de I'arbre du jardin de ma tante ! Dans le trou, 
de I'arbre, du jaixlin, de ma tante, il y a un nid. 0, qu'il 
est beau le nid, du trou, de I'arbre, du jardin de ma tante ! 
Daus la nid, du trou, de I'arbre, du jardin, de ma tante, il y 
a un oiseau. 0, qu'il est beau I'oiseau du nid, du trou, de 
I'arbre, du jardin, de ma tante ! 

L'oiseau du nid, du trou, de I'arbre, du jardin, de ma tante, 
porte daus son bee un billet, ou ces mots sout Merits : — 
" Je vous aime," qu'ils sont doux ces mots, "Je vous 
aime," qui sout ecrits sur le billet porte dons le bee, de l'oi- 
seau, du nid, du trou, de I'arbre, du jardin, de ma tante." 



A GOOD FAT HEN. 

1. A GOOD fat hen. 

2. Two ducks and one good fat hen. 

3. Three squalling mid geese, two ducks, and one good 
fat hen. 



220 GAMES OF MEMORY. 

4. Four plump partridges, tbxee squalling wild geese, 
two ducks, and one good fat hen, 

5. Five hundred Limerick oysters, four plump partridges, 
three squalling wild geese, two ducks, and one good fat hen. 

6. Six pairs of Don Alphonso's tweezers, five hundred 
Limerick oysters, four plump partridges, three squalling wild 
geese, two ducks, and one good fat hen. 

7. Seven hundred Macedonian horsemen drawn up in 
line of battle, six pairs of Don Alphonso's tweezers, five hun- 
dred Limerick oysters, four plump partridges, three squalling 
wild geese, two ducks, and one good fat hen. 

8. Eight cages of Heliogabulus sparrowkites, seven hun- 
dred Macedonian horsemen drawn up in line of battle, six 
pairs of Don Alphonso's tweezers, five hundred Limerick oys- 
ters, four plump partridges, three squalling wild geese, two 
ducks, and one good fat hen. 

9. Nine sympathetic, epithetie, didactic propositions, eight 
cages of Heliogabulus sparrowkites, seven hundred Macedo- 
nian horsemen drawn up in line of battle, six pairs of Don 
Alphonso's tweezers, five hundred Limerick oysters, four 
plump partridges, three squalling wild geese, two ducks, and 
one good fat hen. 

10. Ten helioscopie, peroscopic, pharmaceutical tubes, nine 
sympathetic, epithetie, didactic propositions, eight cages of 
Heliogabulus sparrowkites, seven hundred Macedonian horse- 
men drawn up in line of battle, sis pairs of Don Alphonso's 
tweezers, five hundred Limerick oysters, four plump par- 
tridges, three squalling wild geese, two ducks, and one good 
fat hen 

11. Eleven flat bottomed fly boats floating from Mada- 
gascar to Mount Prunello, ten helioscopie, peroscopic, phar- 
maceutical tubes, nine sympathetic, epithetie, didactic proposi- 
tions, eight cages of Heliogabulus sparrowkites, seven hun- 
dred Macedonian horsemen drawn up in line of battle, six 



A GOOD PAT HEN. 221 

pairs of Don Alphonso's tweezers, five hundred Limerick 
oysters, four plump partridges, three sc[ualling wild geese, 
two ducks, and one good fat hen. 

12. Twelve European dancing masters sent to Egypt to 
teach the Egyptian mummies to dance and sing, eleven flat 
bottomed fly boats floating from Madagascar to Mount Pru- 
neUo, ten helioseopic, peroseopic, pharmaceutical tubes, nine 
sympathetic, epithetic, didactic propositions, eight cages of 
HeHogabulus sparrowkites, seven hundred Macedonian horse- 
men drawn up in line of battle, six pairs of Don Alphonso's 
tweezers, five hundred Limerick oysters, four plump par- 
tridges, three squalling wild geese, two ducks, and one good 
fat hen. 




'CAN T KEMEMBEB, 



Parlor Games. 




QUAILS is a modem English game. The 
incompleteness of the original rules, and the 
ridiculous terms employed in the game hare 
prejudiced many sensible people against it. 
Kelieved of these absurdities, the game is an 
interesting one. 

materials. 

The materials for this game consist of six- 
teen squalls, a target, and a gauge. The squalls are small 
discs of wood, about two inches in diameter, eight of light 
and eight of dark colored wood. The squalls are designated 
by four distinct colors — two light and two dark of each color. 
The target is of ivory, about one inch in diameter, and loaded 
so as not to be easily moved or overturned. The gauge is a 
measure three inches long, made with a convenient handle. 

The method of the game is as follows : The company 
being seated around a dining table, the squalls are distributed 
to them, and the target placed in the center of the table. 
Now the object of each player is to drive his squalls as near 



SQUAILS. 



223 



the target as possible, by allowing the squail to project over 
the side of the table about one-fourth its size, and striking it 
with the pahn of the hand. 




/l/^/fW/ £yi CO.SG , 



Target. — The movable hub at which the squails are played. 

GrAUGE. — The measure. 

Line, OP Demakcation. — An imaginary line round the 
table, at the distance of the length of the gauge from the 
edge. 

Out. — A squail struck over the Irae of demarcation on 
the opposite side from the player striking it, is " out." 

To Rout. — To strike a collection of enemy's squalls so 
as to scatter them about. 

To Blockade. — To leave one's squalls in such a position 
as to block up a passage in which the next hostile player 
could play to advantage. 



224 PAELOR GAMES. 

To Cut Out. — To leave one's sq[iiails between the target, 
a hostile sq[uail lying near it. 



The game of gquails may be played by any number of 
persons not exceeding eight. If the number of players is 
even, half will play on one side and half on the other — one 
side taking the light squails and the other the dark ones. 
The players of the opposing sides must be seated alternately 
round the table. If there is an imeven number of players, 
there are no sides, and all are antagonistic to each other. 

A captain is chosen on each side, to whom the players may 
look for advice, and who shall decide the amount to be scored 
at each round. 

The first play, if there are sides, is determined by the two 
captains playing one squail each at the target, the one who 
drives his sq^uail nearest to the target having the first play. 
J£ an odd number play, each one plays in a like manner for 
the lead. The lead being determined, the commencing player 
places one of his squalls about one quarter off the edge of 
the table, and strikes it with the palm of his hand, aiming at 
the target which is in the center of the table. The squalls 
slide on the surface of the table. 

• The players must play one at a time in rotation, with the 
course of the sun — i. e. from right to left. When all the 
squails have been played a round is finished, and the nearest 
squail to the target counts one if within the distance of the 
gauge. If more than one of the same side are nearer than 
any of the other color, they all count one each, provided they 
are within the distance of the length of the gauge — i. e. 
three inches. A player can strike his squail from any 
position around the table which he can reach without moving 
from his chair, or rising from his seat 



S QUAILS. 225 

If the target is moved by a squail from its place, and does 
not cross the line of demarcation, it must remain where it 
stops, unless it is rolling and unsteady ; in which case the 
next player can stand it firmly in the place where he finds it, 
and all must play at it in its new position till that round is 
finished. Before commencing a new round the target must 
be placed back to the center of the table. 

At the end of a round, the captaia of one side makes his 
claim for so many "in," and if the claim is disputed, the 
gauge is used by the disputing captain to measure the dis- 
tance from the target to the disputed squalls. If the captain 
of the side who claims one or more squalls " in " at the con- 
clusion of the round touches them before they have been 
allowed by the captain of the opposition, the squaU or squalls 
so touched are null, and do not count towards the game. The 
winner of one round begins the next. 

If the target is struck across the line of demarcation, i. e. 
" out," it terminates that round; the person who sent it out 
commences the next round, and one is added to the score of 
the adversary. 

The game can consist of any number agreed upon by the 
players. Five is a short game, and eleven is a long one. 

A squail having been struck so far on the table as not to 
be touched by the gauge, measuring from the edge of the 
table, is considered as played, and cannot be taken back. It is 
then said to have passed the line of demarcation. If a squail 
passes the line of demarcation twice, i. e, goes across the 
table, one of the opposing side must cry, "That squail is 
out," before the next squail in succession has been played , 
otherwise, the owner may claim it, and play it agaua at the 
conclusion of the round. If more than one squail is " out," 
and not cried, they may all be claimed and played at the end 
of the round in the order in which they were " out." 

10* 



226 



PAELOR GAMES. 



PAELOR OR. CARPET BOWLS. 

The materials of this game are one wMte ball, and a num- 
ber of other bails, designated by four distinct colors. It is 
played as follows : Place the white ball on the floor near one 
end of the room with perhaps a row of books behind it, to 



^y. ' 









protect the finish. Divide the remaining balls equally among 
the players, or give an equal number of balls to each player. 
If four play, it is more interesting to form sides, the two play- 
ers on one side taking the dark balls, and the other two the 
light ones. Blue and black are considered dark — red and 
yellow, light. The players, retiring to some part of the room 
more or less distant from tTie white ball, now bowl the colored 
balls, which they hold, at the white one, by turns. Each 
player bowls one ball at a time, the play passing around the 
company as many times as there are colored balls for each 
player. The first bowl goes by turn, as the last bowl is the 
most valuable. The object of each player is to have the balls 



PARLOR BOWLS : THE UNION GAME. 227 

that he bowls rest as near as possible to the white one, and 
also to drive his enemy's balls away from the white one, or 
the white one away from them. When all the balls have been 
bowled, the ball that lies nearest the white one counts 4 ; the 
one next nearest, 2 ; and the third nearest, 1 — ^to the person 
or side to which they belong. Thus, we will suppose that of 
the three balls lying nearest to the white ball, the nearest one 
belongs to the dark side, and the two next nearest belong to 
the light side. Then the dark side scores 4, and the light side 
2 and 1, making 3. But if the three nearest balls had be- 
longed to the dark side, they would have scored 7, and 
the light side nothing. The game may be 20, or any other 
number agreed upon by the players before commencing, and 
the player or side that gains that number first wins the game. 
Should the game be nearly equal, so that both sides gain 20, 
in the same hand, then the side that makes the greatest num- 
ber wins. The white ball must remain wherever it is rolled 
by the playing of the balls during each hand and placed back 
on some designated spot at the commencement of each hand. 
If two balls belonging to opposite parties are equally distant 
from the white ball, it is a tie, and the two players who bowled 
those balls must try again, and the one whose ball is nearest 
will count 4, the other 3. 



THE UNION GAME, OR EED, WHITE AND 
BLUE. 

This is an excellent parlor game. Any person possessing a 
^sroquet board, by taking out the hoops, can use it for the 
Union game, although a square or round board is better ; if 
square, the board should measure from three and a half to 
four feet each way ; if round, from three and a half to four 



228 PARLOR GAMES. 

feet in diameter. The board should be firmly made of well 
seasoned wood, and covered with cloth or green baize. It 
should have a rim or fence around the edge, just sufficient 
to prevent the balls from rolling off the board. It is neces- 
sary to have three cubes made of some light wood, about 
an inch and a half each way ; one should be painted red, one 
white, and one blue, with a star on each face. 

Each player should have three balls, pamted red, white 
and blue, and a mallet. The balls and mallets may be the 
same used in parlor croquet. If this game is played on a 
board, it is necessary, in order to avoid any disputes, to have 
a square marked in the centre in which to place the cubes. 
A croquet board can be adapted to the game by removing the 
central hoop. 

All persons, who prefer not to use a board, can play the 
game on the floor, by placing the cubes on some central figure 
of the carpet. By using larger blocks and the croquet balls 
and mallets, this game can be played on a level spot of 
ground, in the open air. 

^ow th^ Sarnie is io. h^ fXz^^d. 

Place the red cube in the centre of the board, the white 
diagonally on top of the red, and on top of the white place 
the blue cube, with its sides square with the red. The per- 
son to commence the game is chosen by lot. He places his 
red ball at the distance of a mallet's head from the edge of 
the board, and fries to send his ball against the cubes in the 
centre ; he can roll his three balls in succession, and at the 
end of his play take back his balls and replace the cubes, if 
their position has been changed by his play. The player on 
his left then plays his three balls, and each in turn, until all 
have played. The same thing is repeated until three roimds 
have been played. 



THE UNION game: zoetrope. 229 

Itul^s xif the €rame. 

1. Each player must play from the place he first selects, 
and at the same distance from the cubes as the other players, 
or forfeit his play. 

2. If a player "with his red hall throws down the blue and 
white cubes and moves the red cube over the square marked, 
it counts him 20, and he need not play the white or blue ball, 
but whatever points he wins during the second round with the 
first two balls counts on the first roll. 

3. If a player only throws down the blue and white cubes 
without moving the red from its square, he counts 15. 

4. If a player only knocks off the blue cube, h| counts 10. 

5. If a player only moves the three cubes, he counts 5. 

6. If a player with the first two baUs throws down two 
cubes and moves the under red cube, his play is finished for 
that round, and when his next turn comes, he can add what 
he wins with the first ball to the count on his former play. 

7. If a player knocks the three cubes down in the three 
rolls, he counts 20, and if he only knocks down two in three 
rolls without moving the red, he counts 15 ; if only the blue 
cube he counts 10 ; if he merely moves them all together he 
counts 5 for the three balls ; if he hits them but does not move 
them he counts nothing. 

8. If in rolling the three balls at the cubes he misses 
them every time, he loses 5 from his score. 

One of the company should be provided with pencil and 
paper and keep an accurate account of each player's score. 



ZOETEOPE, OE WHEEL OF LIFE. 

The Zoetrope is a newly invented toy. It presents a series 
of striking optical delusions, and is constructed in part on the 



230 



PARLOR GAMES. 



principle of the Phenakestoscope, though, altogether different 
in its arrangement and effect. It can be exhibited on a table 
in the middle of a room, and a dozen or more can be amused 
by it at the same time, one of the party keeping it in motion. 




The exhibitor can give such description of the pictures as they 
appear as he thinks best. A bright boy or girl can add very 
much to the interest of the exhibition by witty descriptions. 
The exhibitor can announce his performance to a family party 
in a high-flown handbill, charge an admission fee to the room, 
and carry out the exhibition in the most approved style. The 
toy is admirably adapted for the entertainment of children. 



GEECIAI^r GAMES. 

In reading an account of the toys, sports and pastimes of 
the ancient Grreeks, caie is sui'prised at their resemblance to 



GRECIAN GAMES : JACK-STExVWS. 231 

our own. They had many games now in common use, and 
supposed to be of modern invention. A Grecian philosopher 
named Archytas invented the child's rattle. 

Our children would like to revive th« hoops of the ancient 
G-reeks. They surely were more tasteful than ours. I will 
describe them, and perhaps some enterprising boy will try to 
imitate, if not surpass them. They were made of bronze, 
three feet in diameter, very light, and adorned ^with little 
spherical bells and movable rings, which jingled musically as 
the hoops rolled along ; the hoop stick was crooked at the 
point, and called a "pleetron." 

Boys ! do not be outdone by the young Greeks. Try and 
invent a hoop with bells of different tones, that will play a 
melody as it rolls. Some iron hoops have bells, but they are 
not musical. The Egyptians, too, excelled in toys of all 
kinds. 



JACK-STEAWS. 



Jack-straws were played centuries ago, and like many 
other good old games, have come into fashion anew and with 
some improvements. The game may be played with straws or 
fine splinters of wood, four or five inches in length. The 
straws are gathered in a bunch, not tied, but held firmly to- 
gether by one end of the bunch, in the hand, a few inches 
above the table. Held in this manner the bunch will be 
spread at the bottom, somewhat in the form of a haystack. 
The player suddenly drops the bunch, and the straws fall in 
an irregular heap on the table. Each player is provided with 
a straw or stick, on one end of which a small hook or crooked 
pin is made fast, and each in turn tries to draw with his hook 
a single straw from the heap without moving in the slightest 
degree, any straw except the one he seeks to remove, If he 



232 PAELOE GAMES. 

succeeds,* he keeps tlie straw, and proceeds to draw out an- 
other or others, but whenever he disturbs any other than the 
one straw he gives up his turn to his opponent. The one 
who gains the largest "number of straws wins the game. 

The jack-straws sold in the toy shops are usually made of 
wood, and each bunch contains pieces roughly representing 
kings, queens, bishops, &c. Each of these pieces has a num- 
ber marked on it, and when one of them is drawn from the 
heap, it counts for the player as many straws as its number 
indicates. If the players so agree, each can gather up the 
straws, as often as his turn comes, and drop them anew. 




G-ames for Little 
Cliildren. 




^ANCE, THUMBKIN, DANCE! is a game 
by which an older person can amuse a num- 
Ijlber of little children. It is played by hold- 
ing Tip the hand and bending thumb and fin- 
gers in the following manner. First, put the 
thumb in motion, singing in a lively tune, 
"Dance, thimabkin, dance;" then keep the 
thumb still and move the four fingers, sing- 
ing, " Dance, ye merry men, every one, for 
thumbkin he can dance alone." Then move 
the forefinger and sing, "Dance, foreman, dance!" Then 
move all the fingers, singing, " Dance, ye merry men, every 
one, for foreman he can dance alone." Then keep the sec- 
ond finger in motion, singing, " Dance, middleman, dance ! " 
Then move aU the fingers, singing, " Dance, ye merry men, 
every one, for middleman he can dance alone." Then in the 
same manner repeat the process with the two other fingers, 
calling the third finger "ring-man," and the fourth finger 
"little-man." When these changes are done rapidly, it en- 
tertains even babies. 



234 GAMES rOE LITTLE CHILDEEN, 

UNCLE JOHN. 
All the children who join this game must stand in a circle 
holding each others' hands, and as they walk or dance around 
they sing the following words : 

" Uncle John is very sick. What shall we send him ? 
A piece of pie, a piece of cake, a piece of apple dumphrg. 
What shall we send it in 1 In a golden saucer. 
Who shall we send it by 1 By the king's daughter. 
D-o-w-n, down " 

Then all must kneel down as quickly as possible, and rise up 
at once, the one who is the last to kneel must, when they all rise, 
whisper to some one a girl's or boy's name, and then all join 
in the circle, the one who knelt last facing outwards. Then 
they all repeat as follows, making use of the name whispered : 

" J B so they say 

Goes a courting night and day, 
Sword and pistol by his side, 

M L shall be his bride, 

She has sparks, one, two, three, 
I can tell you who they be, 
Joel, Toel, half a day, 
Exel, Toel, turn away." 

All again commence to sing " Uncle John is very sick," 
&c., this continues until each one faces outwards in turn or 
they are weary of it. 



MOTHEK GOOSE. 

This is a new and amusing game for little children. One 
among their number must be chosen to take the part of 
" Mother Goose," and she must arrange her forces in a hne, 
and place a cricket in the centre of the room. She then leads 
off, clapping her hands and dancing slowly, saying, " Hi, did- 



CLAP OUT AND CLAP IN. 235 

die, diddle, the cat's in tie fiddle." All must foUow her, 
saying and acting exactly as she does, on penajty of a forfeit. 
She then imitates the mewing of a cat and all imitate her. 
She then repeats "the cow jumped over the moon," and 
" Mother Goose " runs and jumps over the cricket, all the 
others following her. Again they pass round the. room sing- 
ing, "The little dog laughed to see the sport." Suddenly 
she stops and laughs heartily, each one imitating her, -and 
away they go again, singing, " The dish ran away with the 
spoon." " Mother Goose " then claps her hands as a signal 
for all to run, and off they start, she after them ; if she suc- 
ceeds in catching one, she cries out, "Here is Mother Goose," 
and all assemble round her, and the play commences again. 
If played in the open air, it is well to have some post or tree 
as a goal, and if "Mother Goose" does not catch some one 
before it is reached, she has to act her part again. 



"CLAP OUT AND CLAP IN." 

All the girls in the party arrange themselves behind chairs, 
sofas, ottomans, &c., all the boys being sent out of the room, 
one girl stands as door-keeper. Some gnl then calls out the 
name of a boy whom she wishes to take the seat in front of 
her, the door-keeper opens the door and calls out the name. 
The boy called enters and the door is shut; he looks all around 
wondering who has chosen him, and finally takes a seat. If 
he happens to sit down in front of the gui who called his 
name she kisses him, and he keeps his seat ; but if not, as is 
most likely to be the case, they all clap him out, and away 
he goes. Another is then chosen and the same thing is gone 
through ; sometimes a favorite boy will be called in a number 
of times before he guesses correctly. When all the girls have 
taken their turn in calling, they leave the room, and the boys 
take their stand behind the seats, and the girls are called in. 



236 



GAMES FOR LITTLE CHILDEEN. 



FINGEES AND THUMBS. 



One finger one thumb keep moving, One finger one thumb 



m 



keep moving, One finger one thumb keep moving. Gee 



Se 



-t: 



±1 



-^- 



np, Ge I, Ge 0, Two fingers one thumb keep moving, &c. 

Three [fingers, one thumb,] keep moving. Three, &c. 

Four [fingers, one thumb,] keep moving. Four, &c. 

Five [fingers, one thumb,] keep moving. Five, &c. 

Six [fingers, one thumb,] keep moving. Six, &c. 

Seven [fingers, one thumb,] keep moving. Seven, &c. 

Eiglit [fingers, one thumb,] keep moving. Eight, &c. 

Eight [fingers, two thumbs,] keep moving. Eight, &c. 

Eight [fingers, two thumbs and one arm,] keep moving. Eight, &c. 

Eight [fingers, two thumbs and two arms,] keep moving. Eight, &c. 

Eight [fingers, two thumbs, two arms and one foot! keep moving. 

Eight, &c. 
Eight [fingers, two thumbs, two arms, and two feet,] keep moving. 

Eight, &c. 
Eight [fingers, two thumbs, two arms, two feet, and your head,] 

keep moving. Eight, &c. 

The words in brackets must Ibe sung on one note, as in 
chants ; and each line must be repeated three times, as ar- 
ranged under the above notes. The person selected to com- 
mence this game must arrange all the players in a circle, either 
seated or standing as he directs. Each must follow the mo- 
tions of the leader, and join him in singing. When the 



"YOU AEE NOTHING BUT A GOOSE." 237 

leader is ready to commence the game lie must clap his hands. 
He then begins to move his fore-finger and thumb, and sings 
the words as arranged at the beginning of. these directions. 
All the motions he makes must correspond with the words he 
sings, and each player must imitate his motions, and continue 
them through the game. All the fingers, thumbs, arms, feet 
and heads in the room will soon be in motion. The effect of 
this game is quite laughable. The persons joining in this 
play can recite the words without singing, if they prefer. 



"YOU AEE NOTHING BUT A GOOSE." 

This play consists in telling a story for the amusement of 
little children, and at the same time drawing figures on a slate 
or paper in illustration of it. For instance, " An old man and 
his wife lived in a little cabin. I will draw it with my pen- 
cil, so that you may know it. There it is, (here make a pic- 
ture of the cabin.) This cabin had a window, which I will 
make thus, (here put in the window.) Near the window was 
a projecting door, like this, (here put in the door.) On the 
side opposite the door was a road, bordered on one side by a 
hedge, (draw the road and hedge.) This road terminated in 
a large pond, (mark out the pond,) and herbs grew round it, 
(mark them.) One night some robbers came to the further 
end of the pond, (make some marks for robbers.) The old 
woman heard them and told her husband to get up and see 
what was the matter. The old people walked down to the 
side of the pond, (make marks for the old people on the side 
of the pond.) Each of them held out a hand to caution the 
other to keep silence, (mark the hands.) But they did not 
hear anythmg, for the robbers had taken fright and had run 
away. After standing out in the cold for a long time, the old 



238 



GAMES FOR LITTLE CHILDEEN. 



man said to Ms wife, " Go along back to the house, you are 
nothing but a goose." At this point you hold up your paper 
and it will be seen that you have made a picture of a goose. 
The subjoined cut illustrates the progress of the picture. 



O o-o 




While telling the story you must be careful that the lookers- 
on see the growing picture sideways, or upside down ; other- 
wise they may suspect your design before the picture is com- 
plete. Other simple stories can be illustrated in like manner. 



BUZZ. 

Promptness is very necessary in this game. Any number 
of children excepting seven, both girls and boys, seat them- 
selves round a table, or in a circle. One begins the game by 
saying, " One ! " the child on the left says " two ! " so on till 
they come to seven, which number must not be mentioned, 
but in place thereof the word " Buzz ! " Whenever a number 
occurs in which the figure seven is used or any number into 
which seven may be multiplied, " Buzz " must be used instead 
of that number. Such are the numbers, 7, 14, 17, 21, 27, 
28, 35, 37, 42, &e., &c. Any one ' mentioning a number 
with seven in it instead of " Buzz," or calling out of turn, or 
naming a wi'ong number, must pay a forfeit. After she has 
paid her forfeit, she calls out, " One ! " and so it goes round 



BUZZ: THE PUZZLE WALL. 



239 



again to the left. When by a little practice the circle gets aa 
high as seventy-one, then, "Buzz one," " Buzz two," &c., must 
be used, and for serenty-seven, " Buzz-Buzz," and so on. If 
the person whose turn it is to speak delays longer than while 
any one of the circle can moderately count five, she must pay 
a forfeit. 



THE PUZZLE WALL. 

Suppose there was a pond, around which four poor men build 



O 



O 



O 

O 



o o 



o 

riGUKE ONE. 



o o 



their houses, as 

in figure one. 

Suppose four 

wicked rich men 

afterward built 

houses around 

the poor people, 
as in figure two, and wished to 
have all the water of the pond to 
themselves. How could they build 
a high wall, so as to shut out the poor people from the pond 1 
You might try on your slate a great while and not do it. I 
will show you : 



O 
O 

FIGUKE TWO. 




240 GAMES FOR LITTLE CHILDREN. 



DOLLS. 

G-iVE your girls a number of substantial dolls to play with, 
and pieces of cotton cloth, calico or muslin-delaine, ribbons, 
&c., with which to make dresses; and do not buy elegantly 
dressed dolls, which can only be used on great occasions. I 
will tell you how a little girl I once knew played dolls. Her 
first doll was a " rag baby " that her aunt made and dressed 
for her, like a real child. She had even a night-dress and 
cap. She would amuse herself by hours together, dressing, 
undressing and singing it to sleep ; she would have it in her 
arms every .night. As she grew older she careMly treasured 
all bits of finery, and everything she could manufacture into 
clothing for her doll. A little girl lived near and they used 
to visit daily with their dolls. Christmas always added to 
their treasures, and they finally concluded to join forces and 
commence a baby-house on a large scale in a spare room. 
They had a parlor, dining-room, .bed-rooms, kitchen and pan- 
try, all completely furnished, and a dozen nice dolls. Every 
leisure moment was spent in this baby-house. They had regu- 
lar washings and ironings. They had little tubs and flat-irons 
of their own. They baked bread, cookies and ginger-cakes, 
for their mother's cook would good-naturedly show them how 
to mix and make wee bits of loaves. A thimble was often 
used as a cookie or buscuit cutter. 

Such plays give girls a taste for domestic employments, and 
aid them in becoming good housekeepers, and good house- 
keeping is always a desirable and sometimes a very necessary 
accomplishment. 

They would often "play school," and in asking questions, 
and answering for their dolls, the lessons they were taught at 
school, were more firmly impressed on their minds. 



BOYS. 241 

If they had birthday parties, company was always invited 
at two; and their "party" (that is, refreshments,) were 
served at half-past four in Winter, and five in Summer. 
Beaux they did not think of. If little boys joined them, they 
were there playmates, and no more. They always took their 
dolls, and after playing simple games they would resort to 
them as their chief amusement. 



BOYS. 

If boys desure a hammer, nails, boards, &c., do not deny 
them. When a baby girl commences to play with a doll, a 
baby boy will pound, or pretend to hammer nails, or drive 
horses. It is useless to attempt to make boys love quiet sports. 
Set aside some spare spot in your house, where the noise will 
not disturb your household, or, what is better, build a little 
work-room especially for their use. It will be money well in- 
vested. Thus by early cultivating their tastes and by giving 
them employment, seed may be sown which will yield an 
abundant harvest. 

Mothers ! do not, by yielding to your over-sensitive nerves, 
stupefy your boys. If they are good for anything, they must 
and will make a noise. It is better to let them have a place 
of their own, but you should frequently inspect their work or 
play, and let them see you are interested in all they do. If 
they make you a flower frame, praise it, and if they show 
a taste for mechanics suggest to them other useful articles to 
be constructed, such as boxes, silk-winders, &c. When you 
make presents give them tools. Encourage them also by judi- 
cious rewards, to keep their room neat and their tools in order. 
11 



242 GAMES FOR LITTLE CHILDREN. 

The following simple directions for making a few useful 
articles may be of service to boys who like to exercise their 
mechanical ingenuity. 

flowjdv Frames ♦ 

Simple frames are made by taking two long narrow strips 
of wood and several small ones of different lengths, and nail- 
ing the latter to the long ones at equal distances apart, or a 
still better way is to make holes in the long strips and insert 
the ends of the short ones. When they are finished paint 
them green. These frames can be made in the form of a 
partly opened fan. A square frame can easily be made. The 
prettiest frames are made of willows, wire, or rattans. Take 
strips of wood and burn or bore holes through them at equal 
distances. Then insert the wire, or rattan, or willow, and 
twist them around in different forms, fastening the ends firm ; 
then paint or varnish them. 

Pretty boxes can be made of any common wood, by simply 
staining them with asphaltum varnish. Then varnish with 
several coats of copal. After they are well dried, take some 
pumice-stone and polish them. K necessary, varnish care- 
fully once again. Your common pine wood will then be 
turned into black walnut, highly polished. Picture frames, 
brackets, little book-racks, stands, crickets, and even sleds 
and wagons can easily be made by an ingenious boy, and 
stained in this manner or painted. Your sisters can ornament 
them with leather work made to imitate carved wood. If you 
are puzzled in making any of these articles, go to any work- 
shop and the workmen will tell you how to make them, if you 
speak properly to them. Never say, my dear boys, you have 
nothing to do. 



PLAY-GROUND RHYMES. 243 



PLAY-GROUND RHYMES. 

These are used by boys and girls ia selecting the leaders of 
their games, instead of drawing lots. The following rhymes 
are in common use : 

One is all, two is all, 

Zick is all, zan ; 
Bob-tail vinegar. 
Tickle 'em, tan. 
Harum-scarum, 
Virginia Marimi, 
Tee-taw-buck. 

Little boy driving cattle, 
Don't you hear his money rattle ? 
One, two, three — out goes he. 

Aina, maina, ickery on 
Feelsa, folsa, Nicholas John 
Quever, quaver, English naver, 
Stingum, stangum, jolio buck. 

Aina, maina, mona, mike, 
Barcelona, bona, strike; 
Airy, wairy, dina, snack, 
Harico, barico, wee, wa, wack. 

One-ry, two-ry, dis-cum dary, 
Hackibo, crackibo, Henry Lary; 
Dis-cum dandy, American time, 
Humelum, jumelum, twenty -nine. 

Hitum, titum, little Kitty, 
Hop-um, skip-um, jumpey daily; 
Roly, poly, dilly, dally. 
He, hi, ho, diddle-dum buck. 

Lo-po, hi, do, de, ti, to, tu, 

Hany, wany, zany zan, you're the man. 



244 GAMES FOR LITTLE CHILDREN. 



FOEFEITS. 

A GREAT many games for children and older persons end in 
forfeits. A few hints in regard to them may be of service. 
It is very foolish for any one to join a game unless he is will- 
ing to forget himself for the time, and join heartily in it. The 
game of forfeits, if well played, is amusing to old and young. 
Every one should be willing to redeem his or her forfeit with- 
out stopping to think whether it is foolish or not. A good, 
hearty laugh is healthful, and every sensible person ought to 
be willing to take his turn in amusing the company. A whole 
game may be ruined by the absurd actions of some one who 
foolishly refuses to redeem his forfeit, for fear of lowering his 
dignity or making himself ridiculous. 

In choosing a judge of forfeits, it is necessary to select a 
person of quick perceptions and ready wit. The judge must 
be prompt in giving his decisions, and they who redeem their 
forfeits must be as expeditious as possible. Promptness is 
necessary to the success of all games. The following list of 
forfeits, collected from various sources, may assist the judge : 

Let the judge give out a line with which the one who owns 
the forfeit shall make another line to rhyme, no matter how 
absurdly. 

Laugh first, sing next, then cry, and lastly whistle. 

Place your hands behind you and guess who touches them ; 
you are not to redeem your forfeit till you guess right. 

Stand with your heels and back close to the wall, then 
stoop without moving your feet, and pick up the forfeit. 

Say " Quizzical, quiz, kiss me quick," nine times without 
a mistake. 

Ask the person who owns the forfeit, what musical instru- 
ment he likes best ; then require him to give an imitation of it. 



FORFEITS. 245 

Ask the person what animal he likes best; then require 
him to imitate it, either by action or sound. 

If a gentleman, he must put on a lady's bonnet, and imi- 
tate the voice and manner of the lady to whom it belongs. 
If a lady, then she must take a gentleman's hat and imitate 
his manner, (sometimes these imitations are very humorous. 
The use of some word or expression habitually employed by 
the person imitated adds largely to the sport.) 

Go to service ; apply to the person who holds the forfeit for 
a place as maid of all work. The questions then to be asked 
are: " How do you wash ? " " How do you irdn ? " "How 
do you make a bed?" "How do you scrub the floor?" 
" How do you clean knives and forks?" &c. The whole of 
these processes must be imitated by motions, and if the re- 
plies are satisfactory the forfeit must be given up. 

Put two chairs back to back, take off your boots or shoes 
and jump over them. (The fun consists in a mistaken idea 
that the chairs are to be jumped over instead of the shoes.) 

It is said there is a person you have loved since a hoy. 

Whose hand you must kiss ere I give you this toy. 

It is not your father, or mother, or sister, 

Nor cousin, nor friend, take care not to miss, sir. [Himself.] 

Make a low courtesy to each one in the room : if it ia a 
gentleman, he must make a bow. 

Recite several of Mother Goose's melodies. 

Make wry faces at every person in the room. 

Admire yourself in the mirror. 

Shiver and act the part of a person naif frozen, or pretend 
to be nearly suffocated with heat 

Rush around the room and greet every one as if you had 
just arrived from a long and dangerous voyage. 

If a gentleman, act the part of a village orator ; if a lady, 
act the strong-minded woman. 



246 GAMES FOR LITTLE CHILDREN. 

(A gentleman's and lady's forfeit can be given together in 
many cases, making it more amusing as well as expeditious.) 
Sing a song or repeat some high-flown poetry. 
Perform the laughing gamut without a pause or mistake : 

ha! 

ha! ha! 

ha ! ha ! 

ha! ha! 

ha ! ha ! 

ha ! ha 

ha! ha! 

ha! ha! 

Keep silence and preserve a sober face for several min- 
utes, without regard to what may be said or done. 

Kiss your shadow in every corner of the room without 
laughing. 

Repeat, without mistake, any difficult sentence which the 
judge appoints. 

Say to each person in the room, " You can't say boo to a 
goose." 

Tell the person to point out on a wall, what he supposes to 
be the height of an ordinary hat. If after measuring with a 
hat, ho has (as is rarely the case,) guessed right, he wins his 
forfeit ; but if not, he or she must wear the hat and bow or 
curtsy to every one in the room. 

Yawn till you make several others yawn. (It is well to 
give this forfeit to one of the male sex with a large mouth, 
A large circle of people may be made to yawn by simply 
opening and closing the fingers slowly.) 

Two can redeem their forfeits in this way. They must 
stand in separate corners of the room, each holding a lighted 
candle; one begins and walks toward the other, with her 
handkerchief to her eyes, saying in a most dismal tone, "The 
King of Morocco is dead ! is dead ! " The other in passing 



FORFEITS. 247 

by her, in the same attitude, sobs out, " Sad news ! sad news ! " 
Again, in the same way, both exclaim, " Alas ! alas ! " All 
must be said without laughing. The g,bove penalty is often 
used as a game. 

Place a candle on a table or piano. Then blindfold the 
person and place him just three paces from it, and directly 
in front of the light. Then he must whhl around three 
times, walk forward, and blow out the candle. This is amus- 
ing. A room full of persons may try it unsuccessfully. Be- 
ing blinded, and then whu'ling around, bewilders one, and he 
will very likely walk in an opposite direction, and perhaps 
blow in some one's face, feeling sure he is right. 

A number of children may redeem their forfeits together, in 

this way : 

This is the way we wash our clothes. 

Wash our clothes, 
So early Monday morning; 
This is the way we wash our clothes. 
So early Monday morning. 
[ While singing this they must pretend to wash.^ 

This is the way we rinse our clothes, 

Rinse our clothes. 
So early Monday morning; 
This is the way we rinse our clothes. 
So early Monday morning. 
\With this verse they imitate rinsing, and with each verse they act the 
words they sing.] 

This is the way we wring our clothes. 
Wring our clothes. 
So early Monday morning; 
This is the way we wring our clothes. 
So early Monday morning. 

This is the way we hang out our clothes. 

Hang out our clothes, 
So early Monday morning ; 
This is the way we hang out our clothes, 
So early Monday morning. 



248 GAMES FOE LITTLE CHILDREN. 

This is the way we sprinkle our clothes, 

Sprinkle our clothes. 
So early Monday evening ; 
This is the way we sprinkle our clothes. 
So early Monday evening. 

This is the way we fold our clothes, 
Fold our clothes. 
So early Monday evening; 
This is the way we fold our clothes, 
So early Monday evening. 

This is the way we starch our clothes. 

Starch our clothes, 
So early Tuesday morning ; 
This is the way Ave starch our clothes. 
So early Tuesday morning. 

Tliis is the way we iron our clothes. 

Iron our clothes. 
So early Tuesday morning; 
This is the way we iron our clothes, 
So early Tuesday morning. 

This is a good game for young children. 




ADVEETISEMENTS. 



COlNTDElSrSED LIST OE' 

Manufactured and Published by 

3IILTON BRADLEY & C031PANY, 

247 Main Street, Springfield, Mass. 



We can guarantee that in the nature and method of our games 
nothing will be found in the least objectionable to the most fastidi- 
ous in such matters, but on the contrary, they are all moral and 
amusing, and many of them very instructive in History, Literature, 
Business, &c., &c. 

We have made social home amusements a specialty for several 
years, and the extensive and rapidly increasing sales that our pub- 
lications have already attained throughout the country, is gratifying 
evidence of the universal favor with which they have been received. 

In this Catalogue we have not space to give even a brief discrip- 
tion of each, but append the ages of persons for which the several 
games are best adapted, and the prices. 

Those games marked thus * will be sent by mail on receipt of 
price. The rest cannot be safely sent by mail 



Tlie New England and National Games. 

CHECKEEED GAME OE LIFE. Ages, 5 to 50. Price i^l.OO. 
CHECKERED GAME OF LIFE. Extra, with muslin board and 

album box; elegant for a present ; same game as above. §2.00. 
*MODERN HIEROGLYPHICS. Three series; 10 and over. 

Each series 25 cents. No. 3 is new and interesting. 
*PATRIOT HEROES; or, WHO'S TRAITOR? Historical, 

instructive, simple and amusing ; 8 to 18. 60 cents. 
*AUTHORS IMPROVED. Instructive ; 10 and over. 50 cents. 

* AUTHORS IMPROVED. Extra, presentatimi edition, in. aVoma. 

box, superior cards, same game as above. $1.00. 
*WHAT IS IT1 OK, THE YfAY TO MAIffi MONEY. 

Lively and social ; a Business Educator ; 15 and over. ,60 cents. 
*DOMINO CARDS. Linen ivory board ; 8 to 15. 25 cents. 
*RUSSIAN DOMINOES. Five games ; 8 and over. 50 cents. 

* CHINESE AJSTD OLD SANTA GLAUS PUZZLES. 4 to 10. 

20 cents. 

* ALPHABETS BEWITCHED. Instructive ; 4 to 20. 25 cents. 
THE UNION GAME. Including Checkered Game, Chess, Check- 
ers and Backgammon ; 5 and over. §1.00. 

MY GRANDFATHER'S GAJMES. Standard; 5 to 15. 30 cents. 
*THE MYRIOPTICON. A Miniature Panorama, immensely 

popular with the boys ; 7 to 12. §1.25. 
*DISSECTED PICTURES. Three pictures— Darkey going to 

mill, Minnie shaving her cat, Amy teaching her dog Ms letters ; 

6 to 12. 60 cents. 



ADVERTISEMENTS. 



* DISSECTED PICTURES. Two pictures ; 5 to 12. 50 cents. 
*CONTRABAM) GYMNAST. Comical ; 1 to 100. 20 cents. 

* ALPHABETICAL LOTTO. Instructive ; 4 to 12. 25 cents. 
« CURIOUS BIBLE QUESTIONS. Sunday School Cards; 

Reward Cards, Bible series ; for Sunday Schools and the 
family. Per package, 10 cents. 

AMERICAN SQUAILS._ Very popular ; 8 to 100. .1?2.00. Our 
American Squalls have improved target, and a common-sense set of 
rules, with respectable terms substituted for the disgusting terms 
used in the English game and its imitations in this country. 

THE CENTRIPETON. For one or a dozen ; 1 to 75. |2.50. 

PARLOR CROQUET. From §10 to .$50. 

PARLOR BOWLS. For all ages. .§1.50, $2.00, .$2,75. 

THE ZOETROPE; or, WHEEL OF LIFE. Scientific; a big 
thing for a whole household. Two styles. $4.00, $5.00. 

* CROQUET. Its Principles and Rules, for Lawn and Parlor. 

Elustrated. The latest and standard rules. 25 cents. 



FASI,OJi CMOQVET TJLJSIiES. 

For Parlor -Croquet, the hoard or table form is the only one that is 
really practicable, as the floor game is too destructive to furniture 
and finish. 

Examine Bradley's Patent Parlor Croquet, with Lidexical Balls, 
Socket Bridges, and Rubber Cushion, before purchasing the game. 
There are no others so good for the same price. 

PAMZOM SOWJ.8. 
The best active family game for the price. Inferior in interest 
only to Parlor Croquet. Our rules are original, and superior to any 
other rules for Bowls. 

TSE ZOETMOPE, Olt WSE:EI, OF XIFE. 

No toy was ever invented that sold as rapidly, or afibrded one- 
half the amusement to young and old, as this. 

It is constructed on pukely scientific kiinciples, and the com- 
ical and mirth-provolcing effect is produced solely by optical iLLUSioir. 

It needs only to he seen to be appreciated. 

JjAWN CltOQirjET. 

BRADLEY'S PATENT CROQUETERIES. 

Our Lawn Ckoquet has been acknowledged during the past sea- 
son to be the best in the market, either foeeign or domestic. 

V/e manufacture under three U. S. Patents, which secure to us 
the exclusive right to manufacture Croquet sets -with Lidexical Balls, 
Plated Bridges, or Socket Bridges, and Ave shall sustain our rights by 
legal force, if compelled to do so by continued infringements. In 
addition to our patented improvements, we warrant every set, with 
our stamp, to be of the best seasoned rock maple, and superior finish. 

Send for a Catalogxie to 

MILTON BMDLEY & CO., 

Spring fieldf Mass. 



ADVERTISEMENTS. 



BEZIQUE. 



The Game of Bezique Complete, 

PUBLISHED BY 

Tfo. 41 tTohn Street, Mew York, 



Of all Card games ever invented, this one is perhaps the most 
interesting, if it is not the most scientific. It is especially a card 
game for the family circle, and familiar gathering of friends, calling 
out at once the interest, skill and social nature of its players. As 
a card game among ladies, it has no rival in their admiration. 
Wliether the game was originated in the brilliant Court of Louis 
XIV., during the last part of the sixteenth century, by a Duchess — 
and the term Bezique has a personal signification relative to a sin- 
gular marriage, which occurred at that time, of a lady of the highest 
rank and great beauty, to a Duke named Bezique — cannot be clearly 
affirmed, though it is accounted so, and appears quite likely, when 
we consider that the Knave card represented Dukes in the original 
game. Its origin is accredited to other sources, but we give the 
above, as it is the only account we have been able to gather that 
gives any explanation of the word Bezique. This game has been 
revived in the last few years among the French, with some altera- 
tions and additions, and has become a favorite Card amusement in 
the fashionable circles of Paris life. In the meantime it has been 
introduced in" the United States, and, though at present it is played 
only by the few in the higher circles of society, it is rapidly making 
its popularity with aU. 

Put up in Rosewood and Satinwood Cases, beautifully inlaid, making 

an elegant Holiday Present, retails at $10 00 

In handsome Colored Cloth Boxes, retails at 5 00 

In Morocco Paper Boxes, gilt and very pretty, retails at 2 50 

it liiberal Discoimt to ilne Trade. 



4 ADVEKTISEMBNTS. / , 5, 

/ J <J 

OUR YOUNG FOLKsf'''^' 

This Monthly, begun in January, 1865, has already won the reputation of 
being "the best Jurenile Magazine published in any land or language." 

Prominent Educators, distinguished Clergymen of all denominations, and 
the Press generally, have commended it in the highest terms. Its contents 
are always thoroughly interesting and healthy, at once variously attractive 
and useful. 

The List of Contributors for 1867 will include, as heretofore, the names 
of the most distinguished writers of the country, and the Publishers will 
continue to rely for Illustrations upon the assistance of the best Artists 
and Draughtsmen. Among the particular matters of interest that relate to 
the new volume, may be mentioned the following: — 

The Leading Story of the year will be contributed by Rev. Elijah Kellogg, 
author of the celebrated Speech of Sj^artacus to the Gladiators, etc., and will 
be a vivid picture of the life of American boys and girls a century ago, pre- 
serving the history of customs and manners which are now forgotten or 
unknown, and enlivened witli anecdote and incident. 

Mks. Harriet Beecher Stowe, after completing Little Pussy Willow, will 
continue her regular monthly contributions. 

" RouND-THE-WoRLD JoE," the popular contributor to the old "Schoolmate," 
has been engaged, and will furnish a series of articles of adventure and 
observation in foreign countries. 

BwARD Taylor's tales of distant lands will be continued. 

Mrs. a. M. Diaz has written several articles, of which one, William Henry's 
Letters to his Grandmother, will be found especially entertaining. 

"Aunt Fanny" has supplied several stories which will be printed during 
the year. 

P. H. C. will give several more of his favorite Lessons in Magic, some of 
which will take up a different class of experiments from those that have 
been previously explained. 

Mdsic. — Each number of the next volume will contain a song, composed 
expressly for " Our Young Folks." These songs will be written by Emily 
Huntington Miller, and each will be especially adapted to the month in 
which it appears. 

Contributions will also be occasionally furnished by 
H. W. Longfellow, J. G. Whittier, Mary N. Prescotu, 

Capt. Mayne Reid, T. B. Aldrich, Louise C. Chollet, 

Rose Terry, Author of "Leslie J. Warren Newcomb, Jr. 

E. Stuart Phelps, Goldthwaite," Kate Pui nam, 

0. D. Shanly, Horatio Alger, Jr., Jane R. Austin, 

J. H. A. Bone, Author of "Seven C. D. Gardette, 

" Carleton," Little Sisters," Julia C. R. Dorr, 

and other well known and favorite writers. 

The department of Illustration will remain under the supervision of 
Mr. A. V. S. Anthony, and the Publishers will spare neither trouble nor ex- 
pense in giving the best pictures which can be obtained. Full-page Engrav- 
ings from designs by Artists of the first estimation will be given regularly, 
and Colored Illustrations will be frequently supplied. 

Terms of Our Tonng Folks.— Single Subscriptions.— Two Dnllar.s a year. 
Single Numbers, Twenty Cents. Clubs. — Three Copies for Five Dollars; 
Five Copies for Eight Dollars; Ten Copies for Fifteen Dollars; Twenty 
Copies for Thirty Dollars; and an extra copy gratis to the person forming 
the Club of Twenty. 

Specimen Numbers sent to any address on receipt of Twenty Cents. 

All letters respecting the Magazine should be addressed to the Publishers, 

TICKNOR & FIELDS, 

124 Tremont Street, Boston, 



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